Back in the spotlight — amid developments in Greek basketball and the issuance of an arrest warrant against him as part of a prosecutorial investigation into allegations — is the business relationship between the president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK), Vangelis Liolios, and Coffee Island, one of Greece’s largest coffee retail chains.
Read also: Greek basketball scandal: Liolios and five other arrestees given until Monday to provide their defense statements (Images & Video)
The shareholding stake
Behind his widely recognized identity as a sports official lies a business journey that began in Patras and led to the creation of one of Greece’s most recognizable brands in the coffee market. A key detail, according to a report by journalist Giorgos Lampiris on powergame.gr, is that despite shifting his focus toward the administration of Greek basketball, Vangelis Liolios has never divested his shareholding stake in the company he founded. Mr. Liolios continues to hold a majority stake in Supply Unique S.A., the company that owns the Coffee Island trademark and manages the chain’s store network. He also serves as chairman and chief executive of the business, regardless of whether he remains directly involved in driving Coffee Island’s business development model.
However, holding a shareholding stake is not the same as exercising day-to-day operational management. The responsibility for Coffee Island’s development and operations rests with brothers Konstantinos and Panos Konstantinopoulos, who are the key figures shaping the chain’s future direction.
Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos serves as CEO of Coffee Island, while Panagiotis Konstantinopoulos plays an active role in the company’s operational and commercial planning, including its marketing activities. This distinction has taken on particular relevance in light of recent developments, as the question being raised is whether Vangelis Liolios’s presence in the company’s share capital could have any impact on the chain’s business operations.
What Coffee Island sources say about the Liolios developments
According to company sources cited in the powergame.gr report, the developments surrounding Mr. Liolios in the basketball world have no bearing on Coffee Island’s operations or its plans for further expansion. As they state, the chain’s business activity is progressing independently of the matters related to the Hellenic Basketball Federation, of which Mr. Liolios remains president. According to the same sources, the company’s business plan is continuing without interruption, with key priorities being international expansion, restructuring of the existing store network, and the development of new store formats.
It is worth noting that this statement comes at a time when Coffee Island is working to adapt its commercial presence to shifting market conditions in the coffee and café sector, testing new concepts and reassessing the commercial performance of its locations. Meanwhile, the legal proceedings involving the EOK president remain ongoing. The case relates to allegations and an investigation within the sports sector.
From the first coffee roastery in Patras to a network of hundreds of stores
As highlighted in the report, the Coffee Island story begins in 1999, when Vangelis Liolios — a medical school graduate from Patras — decided to turn his entrepreneurial attention to the coffee industry. His first venture was a coffee roastery in the Achaean capital, which served as the starting point for the gradual development of an organized retail store network.
A defining milestone came in 2009, when Coffee Island began rolling out a model that combined the traditional coffee roastery concept with the logic of a modern espresso bar and takeaway coffee shop. This strategic choice set the business apart from conventional cafés and laid the groundwork for rapid growth through franchise partnerships.
Over the years, the network expanded across Greece and subsequently into international markets. Supply Unique also developed production operations, warehousing and distribution infrastructure, and partnerships with organized retail chains.
By the end of 2024, according to Supply Unique’s published financial report, the number of businesses it supplied had reached 540. The company reported a presence in markets including Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Romania, Egypt, India, Iraq, and Spain. Despite this international footprint, the Greek market still accounted for approximately 93% of its operations, with overseas markets contributing the remaining 7%.
Supply Unique, €35.8M in turnover, and profitability
As highlighted in the report, the financial dimension of the company’s business activity is reflected in Supply Unique’s most recently published financial statements for the 2024 fiscal year (those for 2025 have yet to be published), which recorded turnover of €35.76 million, net profit of €1.87 million, and equity of €11.65 million.
More specifically, the company’s turnover declined by 3.3% compared to 2023, when it had reached €36.99 million. Net profit came in at €1.87 million, down from €2.07 million in the previous fiscal year, while pre-tax profit stood at €2.48 million. The board of directors proposed a dividend distribution of €3.88 million to shareholders — an amount exceeding the net profit recorded for that year. The overall commercial footprint of Coffee Island is, however, larger than Supply Unique’s standalone turnover, as a portion of sales are generated directly by the individual franchise businesses operating within the network.
According to the company’s own estimates, the total turnover generated across the store network amounted to approximately €130 million, supporting more than 4,600 jobs. Supply Unique directly employed 202 staff members at the end of 2024.
Network restructuring process
At the same time, according to the report, Coffee Island has been engaged in a restructuring process of its existing network for approximately two years. The process includes the closure of certain locations as well as the relocation of stores to new sites where trading conditions are considered more favorable. Decisions in this regard take into account foot traffic, rental costs, consumer behavior, and partnership terms. The company has set a target of completing its current restructuring program by the end of 2026, after which it plans to reassess its growth priorities.
As noted in the report, the plan also extends to the production side, where Supply Unique has made investments to modernize its facilities in Patras, improve warehousing infrastructure, and enhance production capacity. The 2024 financial report outlines an investment program totaling €2.77 million, the majority of which had already been implemented by the end of that year.
