Exports

The growth of sultana processing and trade was particularly marked. In the 1920s, factories owned by Georgios A. Diallinas, Ioannis S. Perdikogiannis and G. Apostolakis were operating in the town, later to be joined by the Stylianos Constantinidis Bros. and Nikolaos Constantinidis Sons, both of refugee extraction. Alongside well-known Cretan agricultural produce in demand overseas, other commodities attracted interest for export in this period. Citrons (citrus medica) were a classic case: huge demand led many Cretan farmers to cultivate that particular variety of citrus fruit. Numerous businessmen and companies were actively involved in trading it as a commodity, with "Kitriki Ltd." owned by Ftyakis - Kasapakis as an undisputed leader.