The Greek kiwi season will start at the end of the month. More volumes are expected from Greece, and after a gap between the Southern hemisphere production and the Northern one, demand is currently at a high level.
Greek kiwi exporter Mitrosilis is getting ready for the start of their kiwi season, says Christos Mitrosilis, CEO of the company: “The Hayward kiwi season will start last days of October and will go until May. The fruits are looking good, quality is high, but fruits are 1-2 sizes smaller than last year. In terms of volumes, Greece is stronger than previous years. Italy has more and more problems and lower production, which forces the prices up at the fields. In the short term the demand is good at this point, because of the gap right now from the end of Southern hemisphere production and the late start of Northern hemisphere.”
Multiple European countries are putting more measures in place, to counter the coronavirus. Mitrosilis feels this will not have a large effect on the kiwi season, as they already follow all the government guidelines within their operation: “The developments around the coronavirus will not lead to more changes in the process of Kiwi. The difference is that we must be more alert concerning the virus, referring to our workers and the handling of production and harvesting. We now follow specific protocols adapted by the Greek authorities and we follow them strictly along the entire procedure. For sure the demand and consumption of fruits high in Vitamin C like Kiwi has risen because of the Coronavirus. The estimation is that the prices will be higher than last year.”
As almost all physical events have been canceled or postponed, Mitrosilis has been using alternative ways of connecting with their clients. The company is participating at Fruit Attraction Live Connect and will do the same during Asia Fruit Logistica ON: “As we have adapted other channels of communication with our clients and ways to promote our products, the lack of physical events will not affect our Kiwi season. We are participating right now at Fruit Attraction Live Connect. It is our intention also to participate at Asia Fruit Logistica ON and of course we are doing constantly teleconferences with our clients. Still, we look forward to meeting our clients face-to-face again once it’s safe again.”
