Greek watermelons, the first to hit the Romanian market

The good weather in Greece is making its watermelons ripen earlier than in Romania, which is why many growers are considering exploring this market to be the first to arrive and get better prices. "There is a large volume of Greek watermelons and Romanian consumers are happy with them, since they are of the same variety that is usually grown in that country and the one they usually like," affirms Robbie Bloemendaal, director at Total Fresh SRL .

This company estimates that an average of about 160 tonnes of Greek watermelons could be imported for the Romanian market every week, although, for now, the figure has reached up to 400 tonnes in two weeks. "A cooperative of the Peloponnese region, with a total of ​​100 hectares devoted to the production of watermelons, contacted me," explains Bloemendaal. However, given that it is the beginning of the campaign and that is the first year that Total Fresh works together with Greek producers, the availability is 15 tonnes per week, with the option to expand.

Greek watermelons will find their place in the Romanian market until this country has its own harvest, which will arrive in mid-July, as the weather has been cold in recent weeks. "Greek growers know they can get very good prices for being the first in the market, hence the initiative," clarifies Bloemendaal. At the moment, the price of Greek watermelons in the Romanian market is reaching between 0.40 and 0.50 Euro per kilo, although it will fall as the campaign develops and the domestic production starts taking over the market.

Moreover, watermelons are not the only product Total Fresh has imported from Greece, as its supplier in the Peloponnese also has about 70 hectares of potatoes available for the Romanian market and soon also for the rest of Europe.