Gold Magazine April - May 2013, Issue 25 | Page 41

T

here are very few
people around the
world who have not
heard of SHARK,
the popular energy
drink. Lesser-known
is the fact that the
brand originated in Thailand, which is
one of the world’s biggest consumers of
energy drinks. The really big surprise,
however, is that the man overseeing no
fewer than 62 markets in Europe, the
Middle East and Africa is doing so from
an office in Larnaca.
Johny (“That’s how it was spelt on my
birth certificate”) Stavrinou was born in
Durban, South Africa, to parents
originating from Rizokarpaso and
who left the island in search of a
better life in 1972. The original
plan was for a 5-year stay but the

1974 Turkish invasion changed that and
so their first son was not only born but
raised and educated in South Africa. “I
came to Cyprus quite often as a kid and
so I identified with my country and my
culture from a very young age,” he recalls.
He also jokes that he was involved in business very early in life “simply because I
could add up 1+1= 2 and do it English!”
but he believes that observing the family
business provided him with some essential
and invaluable knowledge: “Among other
things it taught me the value of business
itself, the value of time in business, the
value of quality service and, in particular,

the value of being able to sell something
that you truly believe in and to have the
confidence to take somebody’s money
for it. Such a transaction, with all these
attributes, is an honest one that is guaranteed to bring a second purchase.”
Stavrinou invested