It started, as many good discoveries do these days, with a bit of aimless scrolling.
Wishbone first caught my eye on social media. At first glance, it looked intriguing enough to warrant a click. A few minutes on the company’s website—reading about its philosophy, ingredients and the story behind what is, at its heart, a family-run business—were enough to convince me there was something genuine here.
There’s something inherently appealing about products created by ordinary people who began with a simple idea, almost as a hobby, and gradually turned it into a profession. Isn’t that the dream for most of us? Still, one question lingered: was this authentic, or simply the work of an exceptionally talented marketing team?
I picked up the phone.
The jars that first sparked my curiosity about Wishbone.
On the other end of the line was Konstantinos Pateras, the chef and driving force behind Wishbone.
Born in England, where he spent a total of 35 years before settling permanently in Greece with his wife, Caroline, Konstantinos co-founded Wishbone with her and another close friend. The name immediately struck me as perfect for the business, and when I mentioned it, he thanked me with unmistakable British politeness.
In English, a wishbone is the fork-shaped bone found in a chicken’s breast. Many of us remember breaking one apart as children, each hoping to end up with the larger piece—and, according to tradition, have our wish come true.
It couldn’t be more fitting for a small team that set out to make genuine bone broth the traditional way and found an audience almost immediately. Or perhaps “almost” is the key word. That became clear as Konstantinos began telling the story from the beginning.
It all started in the family kitchen
“The idea for the broths came quite a long time ago,” he says. “I’ve always cooked at home, and I was always frustrated that I couldn’t find a good-quality broth on the market. I searched everywhere and tried everything, but nothing satisfied me. Eventually, we thought: why don’t we make it ourselves, the way people used to make broth at home?”
Proper broth, after all, isn’t something that happens quickly. It begins with carefully chosen ingredients, continues with patient preparation and slow cooking to extract every bit of flavor and nutrition, and finishes with careful straining before it’s ready to become the foundation of soups, risottos, sauces or countless other dishes.
It’s a labor-intensive process—but someone was willing to put in the time.
“At first, we didn’t think it would become much,” Konstantinos admits.
Reality proved otherwise.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when people around the world found themselves spending more time in their kitchens, friends and relatives who had tasted the couple’s homemade broths began asking for extra jars to use in their own risottos and soups.
“There was already a growing trend for natural bone broths in the United States and the United Kingdom,” he explains. “We did our research and decided to give it a try. That’s how Wishbone was born in 2020.”
Having an idea, however, was only the beginning.
Turning it into a company proved far more difficult.
Finding a suitable production facility became one of their biggest obstacles.
“We couldn’t find a workshop capable of producing what we wanted, so we had to build one ourselves, which was a huge investment. Our first facility was in Vari, on the outskirts of Athens. In 2024, we moved to a much larger production space in Haidari.”
Then came an even greater challenge: convincing consumers that genuine food costs more than highly processed alternatives.
“It was difficult to explain why our product was more expensive,” he recalls. “People were used to buying stock cubes or powdered broth for very little money. We had to show them that the two products aren’t really comparable. One is made through industrial processing and additives. The other is exactly the kind of broth many of us grew up eating when our grandmothers made homemade chicken soup.”
That’s precisely what sets Wishbone apart.
Its broths are made entirely from natural ingredients, without additives, preservatives or artificial flavorings. Unlike supermarket stock cubes or ready-made broths—even many sold in organic food stores—they are made from scratch using traditional methods.
“In the beginning, we did everything ourselves,” Konstantinos says. “We cooked, cleaned, packed… I would start cooking very early in the morning so I’d finish in time to take our son to school.”
Every recipe came from his own kitchen.
“They’re my babies,” he says with a smile. “They’re recipes I’d been cooking over and over again for years at home. I simply adapted them to suit our customers.”
Konstantinos adapted his own homemade recipes to create Wishbone’s range of broths.
From homemade recipes to award-winning broths
Adapting those recipes didn’t mean making them more elaborate. Quite the opposite.
“The goal was simplicity,” Konstantinos explains. “We wanted a clean, balanced flavor that people could use in almost any recipe.”
The first product to reach the market was chicken broth.
“We wanted it to be as simple and versatile as possible.”
The beef broth, however, proved to be a completely different challenge.
“At first we couldn’t find organic beef that met our standards, so we had to use conventional meat. But the flavor was far too strong. We made more than 50 different versions before we finally got it right.”
Eventually, they found the organic beef they had been searching for.
“Today it’s 100% organic, and it’s by far our most popular product. Our customers absolutely love it.”
Health over chemistry
Taste and traditional preparation are only part of the story.
Wishbone’s broths have also built a loyal following because of their nutritional profile. Made exclusively with organic ingredients, they are naturally rich in protein and collagen—qualities that have attracted not only home cooks but also healthcare professionals.
Konstantinos says many doctors recommend the broths to patients recovering from illness or dealing with serious health conditions because of their nutritional value.
“People often drink them on their own, like a warm beverage,” he says. “They’re not just a cooking ingredient—they’re a complete, nourishing meal.”
The company has deliberately designed its recipes to maximize nutritional density rather than simply flavor.
“Besides being completely natural and free from additives, we try to ensure every jar contains as many nutrients as possible. The ratio of nutrients to water is very high, and our protein content is significantly higher than that of comparable products.”
One reason, he explains, is the cooking method itself.
“We use pressure cookers because they help preserve nutrients while delivering excellent results in less time.”
Customer feedback has been equally encouraging.
“Many people tell us they notice improvements in digestion. Others say they have more energy during the day or sleep better at night.”
For Konstantinos, that’s perhaps the greatest reward: creating something that supports people’s health without relying on artificial ingredients or supplements.
Why bone broth is making a comeback
Konstantinos believes the renewed interest in bone broth reflects a broader shift in the way people think about food.
“After the Second World War, governments wanted greater control over food production,” he says. “People gradually came to believe that food should always be cheap—that buying an entire chicken for seven euros was normal.”
That affordability, he argues, came at a hidden cost.
“People filled their stomachs while unknowingly compromising their health. Now they’re beginning to realize it. Their relationship with food is changing.”
One of the biggest nutritional gaps, he believes, involves collagen.
“Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, but we produce less of it as we get older. At the same time, modern diets focus on lean cuts of meat—chicken breasts, trimmed fillets, foods without bones or connective tissue—so we’re no longer getting much collagen from what we eat.”
Bone broth offers a natural way to restore some of that balance.
“That’s why broth made from bones is such a valuable source of collagen,” he says. “Our ancestors understood this instinctively, even if they didn’t know the science behind it. They wasted nothing. Everything that was left over went into the cooking pot.”
What previous generations practiced out of necessity is increasingly being rediscovered today as both a sustainable and nutritious way of cooking.
Expanding beyond bone broth
Wishbone has grown well beyond its original two broths.
The company has introduced two ready-to-eat soups—a creamy mushroom soup and a classic French onion soup—followed by a vegetable broth, currently the only vegan product in its range.
Most recently, it launched two products that Konstantinos is particularly excited about: chicken and duck ramen broths.
“Asian cuisine is hugely popular around the world right now, and Greece is no exception,” he says. “People love ramen and noodles, but until now they’ve mostly relied on powdered seasonings.”
Wishbone’s ready-made ramen broths offer an alternative.
“We understand that people don’t always have time to cook from scratch. They want to prepare their favorite meals quickly. Now they can do it without preservatives, additives or artificial ingredients.”
Authentic ramen in just a few minutes, made with 100% organic broth.
Convenience without compromise
Despite spending countless hours in his home kitchen—and, for the past six years, in Wishbone’s production facility—Konstantinos never criticizes people who choose convenience over cooking from scratch.
“Convenience is wonderful,” he says. “Sometimes it’s exactly what people need. We understand that. We’re not trying to persuade anyone to spend all day standing over a pot. Nobody has time to cook every single day.”
Instead, Wishbone’s mission is to prove that convenience and quality don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
“We want to show people that they can prepare quick, easy meals without compromising on ingredients or nutrition. Every product we make is designed to help people cook faster. Ready-made soups, ready-made ramen broths, ready-made stock—a healthy alternative to powders and stock cubes. These are products that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.”
And when compared with the time, effort and cost of making traditional broth at home, he believes the price is more than justified.
“If you think about what it actually costs to make a genuine organic broth from scratch, I believe our products are very reasonably priced.”
Knowing exactly where every ingredient comes from
Making broth this way isn’t inexpensive.
Organic ingredients cost more, particularly when they’re sourced from small-scale producers rather than industrial suppliers. But that’s a compromise Wishbone has never been willing to make.
The company works with Greek farmers and producers whom the founders know personally. They’ve visited their farms, walked through their fields and built relationships based on a shared philosophy about food.
“We list all of our suppliers on our website because we want customers to know exactly where every ingredient comes from.”
That transparency has become an important part of the company’s identity, reinforcing its commitment to traceability and trust.
Looking beyond Greece
Konstantinos speaks about Wishbone’s products with obvious pride.
He speaks with equal pride about the people behind them.
What began as three friends making broth has grown into a larger team that’s already planning its next chapter.
“We’ve got more products in development,” he says. “We’re hoping to launch two more soups before the end of the year, and we’re already thinking about expanding our range of ramen broths. We always listen to the market, and we’re always planning what’s next.”
Konstantinos Pateras with Wishbone co-founder Katerina Efthymiou and Production Manager Giorgos Sokolakis after receiving quality and taste awards at the Expotrof food exhibition.
Those ambitions are backed by steady growth.
Today, Wishbone products are stocked in around 100 stores across Greece, while exports to the United Kingdom are already underway.
“We hope to enter more international markets soon.”
For a business that began with homemade recipes and a desire to recreate the kind of broth previous generations took for granted, it’s an impressive journey.
Yet Konstantinos, Caroline and their partners show little sign of slowing down.
Not because they want to become bigger for the sake of it, but because they genuinely believe in what they’re making.
As consumers become more conscious of what goes into their food, Wishbone’s founders see a broader cultural shift taking place—one that extends beyond nutrition.
“The way people eat is changing,” Konstantinos says. “And that’s hopeful. Because once people start thinking differently about food, they often begin thinking differently about everything else they consume.”
Perhaps that’s the company’s biggest achievement so far.
Not simply selling jars of broth, but helping revive an older way of thinking about food: one that values quality over shortcuts, transparency over processing, and nourishment over convenience alone.
