The onion harvest began in Greece last month and the crop is looking good. Panagiotis Antonakis from Greek Onions Anatonakis tells us: “We are located in the Thebes area and this is where 90% of Greece’s onions are produced. We harvest twice a year, in April and in August. At this time in the season we select onions to put into the coolhouses. Storing the onions in this way allows us to sell them all year long.”
The company are able to sell their product domestically year-round. Beginning in April and lasting through the summer months the company exports to various international markets, such as European countries, Gulf countries, and sometimes even to the U.S. if the supplies there are lower than usual. About their competition Panagiotis says: “We deal mostly with competition from other Greek suppliers, because the markets from the other countries are not as predictable. We don’t have set countries to which we export so we don’t know ahead of time which countries we are going to be competing with for these markets.”
The company specializes in pink and yellow onions. According to Panagiotis, the harvest this year brings good results. “Last year’s weather caused a lot of damage to onion crops all over Europe, but this year the weather has been much better. We are seeing good sizes for our onions this year, they are size 57. The demand this year has been steady, but the prices are a little high. This means that the customers have to pay higher prices which is not so good for them but it is good for us as exporters because we receive better prices for our product, which is definitely welcome after the losses of last year,” Panagiotis concludes.
For more information:
Panagiotis Antonakis
Greek Onions Antonakis
Tel: +30 6936 502941
Email: [email protected]