McCain Hellas: An economic crisis never seen before in Greece

Georges Ghonos, the managing director of McCain Hellas, the Greek division of Canada’s McCain Foods, is a pickpocket’s dream. His black, leather wallet is as thick as a hockey puck. That’s because it is stuffed with €1,200 ($1,670) in cash. “The banks are shut and I need to give some cash to my wife so she can get to the island,” he says. McCain Hellas is screening its 100 or so distributors to make sure they are financially stable. The distributors are typically paid in cash from the mom-and-pop restaurants, fast-food chains and supermarkets that buy McCain’s frozen French fries. If the distributors do not get their cash, they in turn cannot pay McCain. More