The Greek kiwi season has seen lower volumes this year due to the weather, says Apostolos Tsinoglou, owner of the Greek fruit exporter Europe Export: "Looking at the complete picture, we see that kiwi volumes are between ten and fifteen percent lower than they were last season, despite the increase in fields that produce kiwi in Greece. The decrease in production can be attributed to climate change, as the heat of the summer lower the quantities and made the kiwis mature faster than usual."
Next to lower volumes, Tsinoglou emphasizes that the quicker ripening could also have an impact on the ability to storage the kiwis for a long time. "The weather in Greece played a major role for the Greek kiwi season. As I stated earlier, the heat made the kiwis ripen earlier, which in turn means their resistance in the cooling chambers will be lower, and as such they won't be able to be stored in these cold chambers as long as we'd normally expect."
Tsinoglou states that they've mostly been looking at the South American market for the export of kiwis, rather than shipping them to European markets: "The European market isn't responding as well neither to the current prices and the available volumes. Therefore, we've focused on other markets in Latin America, such as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador, among others. These countries responded well to the conditions surrounding the current season."
For the European market, Greece has heavy competition from one specific origin, but the market situation could change after the holidays, Tsinoglou explains. "I think the Greek kiwi mostly competes with Italy, both in terms of quantities and prices, and has entered into markets where Italy dominated. I think that after Christmas, there will be more demand for kiwi in Europe, as Italy has about 30 per cent lower production this year. This means Greece could fill a gap, once it comes up."
"I expect that Greece will play an increasingly important role in the global kiwi exports. For this year, we hope to satisfy our clients. After that, it's our goal to simply grow yearly as a business should We've recently launched our new brand BabyFruit 2016 P.C., and hopefully the brand will enter supermarkets all over the world," Tsinoglou concludes.
For more information:
Apostolos Tsinoglou
Europe Export 2016 P.C.
Tel: +30 69 066 66 996
Email: [email protected]
www.europeexportsfruits.com