The new season of Kiwifruit will start in a few days' time. Mitrosilis will start harvesting the Hayward variety between 15-20 of October. The season looks promising, as sizes and quantities are looking to meet the standards.
For Greece there will be a slight decrease in volume this season, according to Irini Mitrosilis: "There is 15% less production compared to last season, but as the new orchards are coming in production, the final production will be around the same as last year. Greece is a very strong player in the market of Kiwi. The production is getting bigger and bigger, as more new orchards are coming in. Greece takes the third position of exports, in world base production and comes second to the North Hemisphere. We do not take China into consideration as the production is more than one million tons, but it's only for their domestic market."
Not everything has been smooth sailing for the Greeks. There have been reports of extreme weather in Greece, but Mitrosilis claims it did not harm most of the kiwis. The bad weather did not affect the entire country, only parts of it.
Mitrosilis is about to enter its fourth year of kiwi cultivation and the experience helps the company: "Following a strict protocol on recognizing the characteristics of Kiwi, we are able to maintain the fruits in the cool chambers for a long period and with excellent quality conditions. Because of that, we go on with the season until end of May. Our expectations are to export 3000 tons of Kiwi during the new season. As time passes, our market share is getting higher. Nowadays, we export Kiwi in Middle East, India, China, USA, Canada and Europe. We also export to other countries overseas as Indonesia, Mauritius, Tunisia and others." Mitrolisis states.
"As I mentioned, the needs of kiwi have raised the last couple of years and because of that we are in process of new investments in cooling rooms and packing. Our aim is to double our capacity and to be able to store more than 5.000 tons of Kiwi." Mitrosilis continues.
Mitrosilis will also participate as an exhibitor during Fruit Attraction in Madrid: "This is the second year for us and we find the fair extremely interesting, as the participation of the Exhibitors and visitors is focused on the fresh fruits and vegetables. The participation to a fair give the opportunities to expand the business to new markets and we are open to new collaborations, but also, it gives the opportunity to meet with your existing clients and suppliers. We believe that the in-person communication is one significant factor to maintain the good, in-between, contact and open communication."
You can visit Mitrosilis during Fruit Attraction in Madrid. Their stand is C03 in Hall 10.
For more information:
Nikos Katsaloulis
Mitrosilis s.a.
tel : +30 2752045000
mob: +30 6947775533
Email: [email protected]
www.mitrosilis.gr