One man's loss is another man's gain for Greek apple growers

When the Greek crisis hit, a lot of apple producers made the decision to switch to kiwi production, in the hopes that it would be a more profitable venture. However, Nikolitsas determined to stick it out and decided that the best way forward for them would to be in specialist apples.

"We decided to follow American prototypes in terms of varieties, packing and storage. We wanted to improve every aspect of the apples we produce. Our location is perfect for premium apples, located in the mountains, the apples thrive in the good temperatures, with lots of sunshine and warm winds. It helps us receive maximum colouration," shared Thomas Moulias from Nikolitsas.

Nikolitsas primarily produces Red Delicious, Red Chief, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Fuji. While most of the exports are to the Arabic countries like Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, they are always interested in entering new markets and have started sending small shipments this year to Sierra Leone.

One man's loss is another man's gain
Along with exports, Nikolitas also serves the domestic market. He said that after a large portion of growers made the switch from apples to kiwi, they actually don't have enough supplies to cover both the domestic and export market. Although this is great news for the producers that decided to stick to apples, the Greek consumer is paying for this decision in the supermarkets when traders are forced to import apples to cover demand.

With fears throughout Europe that there may not be enough apples to cover demand through to the next season after the spring frosts in 2017, Thomas said that there were able to virtually avoid any damages and have planned their exports very carefully this year to make sure that there are enough apples to fill their existing customer's order through to the start of the next season.

"Good quality and service is of the utmost importance to us and we have been very careful with our planning, making a schedule for the rest of the season to make sure that our customers are taken care of, along with developing new markets. It can be frustrating at times that some small Greek operations in the past sent out a bad shipment to new markets, thereby giving all Greek exporters a bad name and we are working hard to let them experience the high quality and service we provide."

For more information:
Thomas Moulias
Nikolitsas
Mob: +306949525252
[email protected]
nikolitsas.gr