There is good demand for Greek pears at the moment, according to Mr. Dimitris Kinolis, owner of the packing and exporting company 2 epoxes, headquartered at Tirnavos. "Trade flow progresses normally and consumption is quite good. This is because the great majority of the currently traded pears are not treated for long storage. Therefore, they have juicy and especially tender flesh, for which we, the traders, call them 'butter pears' and they are very popular among consumers."
However, the stocks of these pears are running out and soon Greek suppliers will pass to pears suitable for long storage. "The stocks of Kosia variety are already gone and at the moment, we are going through the transition point to long storage pears. There are already elevated losses of non-long storage fruits inside the cooling chambers, which makes their further storage unfavorable. Some pears treated for long storage are already in markets and as the days pass, these pears will be the primary product. Few of them will be Santa Maria and the majority will be Krystalli," says Mr. Kinolis.
The new situation has pros and cons. As the Greek exporter says: "We treat our long storage pears with SmartFresh to keep their flesh firm. Thanks to this, we can prolong the sales of our pears after Christmas. Formerly, when the Greek packers did not use such products, they were forced to start importing pears after that point. Now, we can offer high quality Greek pears after Christmas as well. However, the sales pace decreases for pears suitable for long storage, because consumers may have to keep them out of the fridge for five days or more before the fruits get soft enough."
"I believe that because of the firm skin of the pears suitable for long storage, the volume usually sold in two months will now take three months to be sold. Longer storage also increases the cost of these fruits. I estimate that EXW prices are going to increase 10-15 cents per kilogram. However, we try to keep the prices as low as possible, because there is strong competition coming from apples, citrus and especially from imported bananas. Most of the remained pears are Krystalli. There are rich supplies and we believe stocks, both ours and of the rest Greek exporters, will last until May," Mr. Kinolis concludes.
For more information:
Dimitris Kinolis
2 epoxes
Tel: +30 24920 29003
Mob: +30 6909 948 952
Email: [email protected]
https://2epoxes.gr/