Greek food: potential to shake off fetters Lob Greek debt into a dinner party conversation and it is sure to be a conversation killer. Toss feta cheese, olive oil or even Greek yoghurt into the salad and few will complain. People detest Greece's lousy tax collection and profligacy, but love its food. Yet much as the country has made a hash of its finances - although, to be fair, its budget deficit in the first two months is half last year's - it is also no good at processing its own foodstuffs. A study by consultancy McKinsey shows that although Greece is the world's third largest olive producer, it ships 60 per cent of its olive oil by value to Italy in bulk, giving up a 50 per cent premium on the packaged product. It also has just 28 per cent of the global feta market. That's a reminder of Greece's potential to shake off its fetters and assert itself.