The apple harvest ended last week in Kastoria, the principal mountainous apple growing region in Greece, with record volume. According to Mr. Dimosthenis Moysides, president of the local apple company GEOK S.A., "This year's volume is higher than ever. The crop reached 50.000-60.000 tons. All the previous seasons, we were facing multiple weather challenges throughout the cultivating period. This time, we suffered only some damages during the extreme summer heat. Actually, about 20% of our apples were directed to the juice industry, because they had been sunburnt".
As for the quality of the harvested apples, there is a mixed situation: "On the one hand, the general size profile of the apples is bigger this year, but there are quite many apples that have been harvested while they should not, because they are either sunburnt or overripe. This means that there are apples in the cooling chambers that are of lower quality and for sure they will not endure a lost lasting storage," explains the Greek merchant. Speaking about varieties, he says that about 70% of the harvested apples are Red Delicious or similar red varieties and the rest consists of Fuji, Golden Delicious, Jonagold and Gala, while the sales of the latter have already been concluded awarding good prices to their sellers.
Challenging marketing season
Now that the Gala apples are over, it is estimated that the sales of Golden Delicious and Jonagold will run until Christmas, while Fuji, Red Delicious and the rest of the red varieties will be sufficient to meet the needs of the market till the new season. "It does not seem a difficult task to have apples available till the next season, considering such a low current demand," highlights Mr. Moysides. As he explains: "The EXW prices have fallen to 0,60-0,65 euros. This is due to the low demand of the Greek market and the fact that the exports are dominated by merchants that have bought the apples directly from the growers, promising to pay them after selling the product. This is called here 'open price policy.' These merchants can afford to sell at considerably low prices and then return to the growers what they want. In the meantime, the average EXW price decreases."
The situation means that there will be little interest expressed for new apple plantations: "New apple trees will start being planted in November in our area, but due to the low prices that the fruit got, we see low interest for new plantations," concludes Mr. Moysides.
For more information:
Dimosthenis Moysides
GEOK S.A.
Tel: +30 24670 74126
Mob: +30 69737 34031
Email: [email protected]