The harvest for the Greek apples is just about finished. According to Matoula Katsika, export and sales manager for Greek fruit exporter A.C. Kissavos, there are lower volumes available this season: “We have reached the end of this year's apple harvest season. As we can see from the quantities that arrived here at our cooperative, Kissavos, we can say that this year's quantities are about 30 to 40 per cent lower. This is due to weather complications and some parasitic diseases. So, we can talk about a big loss in quantity dynamics. On the other hand, the apples have good quality and characteristics, such as taste, aroma and very good coloring. However, this year's quantities are not enough to meet the growing demand.”
Demand for the Greek apples has been quite good, Katsika states, especially from the Middle East. “Since the beginning of the harvest, there’s been a large and growing demand for the Granny Smith apple variety, more in the countries of the Middle East, but also in Europe. Τhe area of Agia is famous for the excellent quality of green apples. In particular, the countries of the East show greater interest in terms of quantities of apples, which is a good opportunity for us to strengthen our export capabilities. Prices in the markets are relatively high, but within reasonable limits, so that we can keep a balance between the business and the consumer.”
Although Katsika acknowledges that South America is a potential market for apples, they’ve not been able to export there just yet: “The Latin American markets present excellent export opportunities for us, particularly in the food and fruit sectors. However, we’ve simply not had the opportunity to cooperate with these countries until now. Perhaps in the future some avenues of cooperation will be opened. Our goal is to continue providing excellent products to our customers tirelessly and ceaselessly as we always do until the end of the season,” she concludes.
For more information:
Matoula Katsika
A.C Kissavos
Tel: (+30) 24940 22261
Email: [email protected]
https://kissavosgroup.gr