MEET THE TEAM

Steve Kriaris is an entrepreneur, consultant, philanthropist, and the founder and president of KOLONAKI Group of Companies. Born and raised in Toronto to immigrant parents, he grew up with a strong connection to Greece and his European heritage.

Steve's entrepreneurial spirit was evident from a young age. KOLONAKI Group was born after a trip to his parent's homeland in his early twenties when he realized the absence of quality products from the Mediterranean in Canada. He was the first to bring natural Greek mineral water to Canada in 2000. During subsequent business trips back to Europe, it was apparent to him that Canadians were missing out on quality and delectable Mediterranean wines. He quickly expanded his company to include fine wines, beers and spirits.

Steve has spent most of the last two decades growing his company, which now consists of three divisions; Kolonaki Fine Wines, Kolonaki Fine Foods, and Kolonaki Fine Lifestyle. In addition to importing fine products, Steve enjoys creating his own. Ten years ago, he started his own wine label, Thalia, using grapes from Crete. His most recent creation is Da Capo espresso and Three Little Figs spread.

In 2012 he was recognized by The Hellenic Canadian Board of Trade with the Business Achievement Award. Steve is an example of creating a successful business by incorporating one's passions. His company is his lifestyle by masterfully combining his favorite things. Travelling to locate craft wines, beers, spirits, fine foods from the Mediterranean and beyond, and being in touch with Mother Nature through the flavors that reflect the land, sea, and the sun and telling stories of unique producers of the world.

José Mafra Vilarim
Sales Director, Americas

José Mafra brings 20+ years of experience with companies such as Hyatt, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Coca-Cola, Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide and Labatt (Ab-InBev). Originally from Brazil, José has lived in Switzerland, Wales UK, Dubai, UAE, Singapore, and since 2015 in Canada. Throughout his sales experiences, José has led several Route-to-Market Projects and his innovative Sales-Marketing “People-first” Mindset. Jose holds two MBAs, one in Leadership and one in Business.
jose.mafra@kolonakigroup.com

Voula Monoholias
Marketing & Communications, Global
Voula graduated with Honours from Humber College in Business Marketing. She has 12+ years of experience working in all facets of marketing. Much of her career has been spent in the hospitality and aviation industries, gaining a solid customer-centric approach. She has a passion for building relationships between brands and customers using technology and communications. Her specialties include copywriting, digital and social media strategy, photography and creative content creation. 

When she isn't passionately creating content for her favourite wines, spirits, and fine food brands, she's daydreaming of how to get Kolonaki Group to sponsor her bucket list trip to Champagne, France. 
voula@kolonakigroup.com

Anastasiia Mosiichuk, 
Supply Chain Manager, Fine Foods & Beverages & E-commerce  
Anastasiia is a graduate of the National University Of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv. She comes to us with experience in administrative, management, and supply chain and logistics. Anastasiia analyzes operational performance, proactively circumvents logistic and operational challenges, and works closely with our suppliers to ensure products meet stringent quality and safety standards. 
anastasiia@kolonakigroup.com

ONTARIO

Vicky Spanos
Sales Representative

Vicky brings over 20 years of visual design and sales experience. Over time she realized each meaningful endeavour began or resulted around the table. Having grown up in the restaurant industry, she has a deep appreciation for fine foods and beverages and their ability to bring people together. She values quality foods and beverages that encourage people to sit around the table, spark conversation and enjoy the simple things in life!

Vicky has a passion for health and wellness and enjoys introducing others to products that are beneficial to good health.
vicky@kolonakigoup.com

Christina Speciale
Beverage Alcohol Field Sales
Christina has over 23 years in beverage alcohol territory management experience managing an impressive area of 70 LCBO stores and over 50 agency/convenience stores. She is an expert in the development of distribution growth strategies, product merchandising and increasing product awareness.

Over the last seven years, she has represented several successful agencies and brands as an independent rep. Prior to this, she worked as a duel rep for retail and on-premise channels with Foster's Wine Estates (formerly Treasury Wine Estates). She began her career with Authentic Wines, a family of Charton-Hobbs and then Diamond Estates. 
cristina@specialewineandspirits.com

Philippe Gougeon
Regional Sales, Quebec
Specialized in the Canadian and Quebec wine and spirits industry, Philippe started his career at Kraft Canada. During his 12-year stint with the company, he was assigned to the business’s largest accounts as the sales director for Quebec, in charge of Loblaws and ConAgra foods. 

Throughout his career, Philippe has developed a great network of business and personal contacts. Notably, he’s been able to develop a good working relationship with both the SAQ and the LCBO and is also familiar with the bidding system of both enterprises. In addition, Philippe has a significant degree of influence within the industry with an excellent reputation, with private agencies and senior executives in the public sector.
gougeon.p@videotron.ca

Jean-François Daoust
Regional Sales, Quebec
A go-getter that leads and unifies, Jean-François developed his skills while playing hockey from a very young age, all the way to his major junior league career. 

Jean-François started his adventure in the world of wine and spirits in 2005 as an employee of the SAQ. His passion took him to the world of agencies in 2010 as a sales representative and quickly moved up to supervisor. In 2015, he decided to broaden his horizons by focusing on spirits and taking on a new challenge as part of the Corby-Pernod Ricard team. After developing an extensive network in the industry, armed with determination, Jean-François decided to launch his agency, Vintage & Associés. Since then, through his perseverance and professionalism, he’s been able to introduce more than 30 products into the state monopoly of the wine and spirits industry and continues to be on the lookout for new opportunities.
jeff@vintageassocies.com

Julie Lafoux
Marketing & Communications, Quebec
Passionate about communication and design and originally from the west of France, Julie graduated from the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Nantes. In 2006 she arrived in Quebec to follow a university exchange program at UQAM. While working in restoration in Montreal, Julie became interested in wine and discovered the world of wine agencies. She returned to school in 2012 to obtain her sommelier designation from the École hôtelière de Laval. She began her career at Univins et Spiritueux then Fréchette, two top 10 agencies, before launching her own Vintage & Associés in 2015. Julie is creative and organized and an entrepreneur at heart. 
julie@vintageassocies.com

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Kirk Karataras
Director of Operations, British Columbia
kirk@kolonakigroup.com

Jenny Siormanolakis
Accounts Manager
Jenny@kolonakigroup.com