The business family history starts in the middle of the 19th century from Dimitris Nomikos with the construction of “Fabrika”, the first motorised flour mill in Fira. The flour, imported from central Greece (Thessaly), was processed and resold in the other islands of the Cyclades. “Fabrica” is one of the most important part of the history of Fira. At the same area Dimitris Nomikos set up a distillery, a pasta factory and a bakery.
Dimitrios Nomikos starts producing tomato paste using pre-industrial technology in Messaria, Santorini.
One of the first factories for the production of canned tomato products was built at Monolithos, the first “in the Balkans”, as he proudly used to say, with the most advanced and modern technology brought from abroad.
George Nomikos, son of Dimitris, builds the factory at Vlychada, in the center of the most productive tomato area in Santorini, with a production capacity of 3.500 baskets per day. The factory operates the first season without even a roof. The productive season lasts from June to August, with the late tomato coming from the area of Pyrgos. Within the factory he develops a small can making unit that manufactures the cans from tinplate. At the same time the fuel for the steam boiler is initially coal, derived from Kimi, and later fuel oil.
In the winter of 1952, during a rainstorm, a flood breaks the door of the large courtyard, enters the factory and carries away products and machinery into the sea, flooding the factory with mud at the height of 2.30 meters. The next year, warehouses are built on the upper north side of the yard to store the products and to hold the streams.
The factory survives from the great earthquake that struck Santorini, without casualties, while George Nomikos expands its activity on the island of Kos by building another factory.
At that time, there were 9 factories operating on the island, with the production being at its peak. The products are loaded in boats from the beach and sold all over Greece, having the advantage of the early production.
The first exports begin, the company gets incorporated and expands to mainland of Greece with a new factory at Aliartos, Voiotia.
In the following years, tourism will grow rapidly while tomato cultivation will shrink dramatically on the island, forcing the factory to close permanently after the last summer production of 1981.
This year “D. Nomikos” will operate its new factory at Domokos, Fthiotida, which along with Aliartos, currently process, in just 12 hours, the quantity of the entire production season that the factory in Vlychada used to produced.
The factory of Vlychada is tranformed into the Tomato Industrial Museum, “D. Nomikos” and a wider cultural space called the Santorini Arts Factory (SAF).
The company expands its production capacity further by building a new factory in the area of Farsala.
In the recent years of their business history, the “D. Nomikos SA ” specialises in the production of packaged tomato products for industrial customers or foodservice. At the same time, the company packages consumer tomato products for retail brands and for private supermarket labels. The company has increased its market share in the Greek tomato industry. The “D. Nomikos SA” has written and is keeping writing its own story, a story that began long ago, continues dynamically in the present and expands with vision and perspective into the future.