A cypriot tradition begins...

The story of Aphrodite Delights began in 1895, when Sophocles Athanasiou returned to his home village of Geroskipou in Cyprus after many years of traveling and living overseas.

He established the delights industry and his 'Loukoumi' soon became a local favorite.

Word quickly spread to the rest of the island and people began to travel to the village especially to indulge in these sweets, making Geroskipou synonymous with this fine confectionery.

Sophocles retired in 1920 and left a fully operational factory to his son-in-law Gabriel Hadjizinoviou, who continued using the original recipe. In 1925, he was invited to take part in the British Empire Exhibition at the newly-built Wembley Stadium (then Empire Stadium) where he was awarded a certificate in recognition of his products.

Sophocles Athanasiou and his wife

Gabriel Hadjizinoviou and his wife

Nikodemos Gabriel and his wife

Indeed, the company's original packaging bore the royal symbol of the lion for many years. In 1960, as Cyprus gained its independence, he succeeded in being one of the very first Cypriots to register his company, and the enterprise and its products became known as 'Aphrodite Delights'.

In 1964, the company was passed on to Gabriel's son, Nikodemos Gabriel who had many new ideas for the modernization of the traditionally small factory.

He and his wife Evdokia successfully managed to make Aphrodite Delights known all over the world and were soon exporting to the far reaches of the globe.

For four generations, Aphrodite Delights was housed in the very same location that was used by Sophocles. His great grandson, George Gabriel, who has been at the helm since 1994, recently saw the factory move to new purpose-built premises in Geroskipou where production continues following the food safety standard ISO 22000.