The kaki harvest in Greece will begin on October 20th accoriding to Mr. Ananias Kapoyrkatsidis, owner of the trading company Ananias Garden in Giannitsa. By his estimate, the kakis in the regions of Pella and Imathia will have reached the right maturity by then, with 15 to 17 Brix and 4,5 to 5 firmness degrees.
"The harvest volume will be similar to that of last season. It originally seemed that it could be considerably higher, but the growers did nothing to prevent the spread of the fruit fly that finally provoked a lot of damage. They considered these treatments as more disadvantageous than the final toll on their production", stresses Mr. Kapoyrkatsidis. As he calculates, the two regions will provide together about 4.000 tons of kakis.
Rojo Brillante's expansion isn't enough to support a serious deastringency industry
As the Greek trader describes, kaki's presence has been expanded considerably in northern Greece in recent years, the great majority of the plantations are of the flat variety, Jiro, but Rojo Brillante gains more ground every year. "Rojo Brillante, though a very tasty and interesting variety, is not an easy case," clarifies Mr. Kapoyrkatsidis. "It does not yield high volumes per hectare and the fruit requires post-harvest deastringency process. However, for this process to be done right -as the Spaniards do it- hard work and proper, state-of-the-art equipment are needed. Therefore, it needs money and there is no such extended Rojo Brillante cultivation to support investments for the development of such industry."
The Greek packers have attempted to establish some deastringency chambers and Mr. Kapoyrkatsidis is experimenting with this himself, but as things are now, Greek Rojo Brillante cannot compete with the Spanish one in international markets. "The variety remains in the domestic market, while most of the few exported volume is directed to Albania without having first been subjected to deastringency process," adds Mr. Kapoyrkatsidis.
Sales prospects undermined by the war escalation in the Middle East
Unlike Rojo Brillante, Jiro does have export profile, with most of the volumes being exported to Jordan and Ukraine. Previously, Russia was also a good buyer, but due to the embargo, this market has been lost. The Greek exporter is afraid that the escalating war in the Middle East may cause new market losses: "Last year, when the Red Sea crisis began, I was very cautious and limited the volume of kaki I bought. Now the situation is deteriorated and more dangerous. The normal route is to send the kakis to Jordan by boat through Israel, where they are loaded onto trucks to be shipped to Jordan. However, it is now dangerous to do so. The alternative route, which is to go through Suez Canal directly to Jordan is also dangerous and it takes more time. No one knows what is going to happen. For sure, there will be changes in the routes, the costs, everywhere."
In this context, the Greek exporter becomes even more cautious. "I have talked to my clients in Jordan. I do not want to take big risks. I have informed them that each one will receive no more than ten containers. That's all," highlights Mr. Kapoyrkatsidis. "New markets have to be found and such developments may generate consequences. Normally, the growers' price for Jiro is about 0,30 euros/kg and for Rojo Brillante 0,50-0,70 euros, but limited trade opportunities may put pressure on these prices", concludes the Greek trader.
For more information:
Ananias Kapoyrkatsidis
Ananias Garden
Tel: +30 238 205 1477
Mob: +30 697 799 5211