Greek sweet corn grower, Zisis Farm, is looking to expand their exports to Europe and was busy at the year's Fruit Logistica in Berlin, looking to meet and build relations with potential new customers.
"We started exporting our sweet corn to Europe in 2017 and are looking to expand this program this year. We have already started planting, but we are a little behind schedule compared to last year, due to the sudden drop in temperature. We still expect to be able to harvest the first ears of corn in the middle of June and will continue to harvest through to early November. All of the corn is grown in open ground, for the time being, we use biodgradable films to protect the earlier crops while the weather is still a bit chilly," explained Lina Tassi from Zisis Farm.
Zisis Farm grows several different varieties of sweet corn, depending on the planting period, but also depending on which varieties their clients prefer. Lina said that they source their seeds from major producers from Spain, the Netherlands and the UK and are always on the lookout for new varieties and trends.
"Prices are pretty stable for sweet corn, but our biggest challenge is to be able to compete with Spain. Spain is a larger country and is well established in supplying vegetables to Europe, which means that they are often setting the market prices. This can make it difficult, since we have to sell at the same price as Spain, if not lower, despite our transportation costs being much higher to most destinations," said Lina.
"We are currently working towards planting our sweet corn twice a year in order to offer year round production to decrease our cultivation cost. We are also trying to gain more for capital for investments, such as machinery and packaging equipment."
For more information:
Lina Tassi
Zisis Farm
Tel: + 2684041295
Email: [email protected]
zisisfarm.gr