The Greek weather has proven to be great for tourist industry, however this isn’t the case in cultivating grapes. George Saliaris-Fasseas is the co-founder of the Greek Grape Company: “I recall a successful and long-running advertising campaign to promote Greek tourism that read”Greece is chosen by the gods! It’s the right time to revive this campaign however this time it is it’s by the Greek Agricultural Ministry. The gods picked very strange temperatures this year to bless their country. This winter, the country was hit by devastating floods. Central Greece, just like in Italy as well. During the summer time it was hot in the evenings between 28 and 30 degrees Celsius as opposed to 20 degree Celsius that we’re used to. This made it the most early time of grape harvest.”

The conditions of the weather have caused an earlier beginning of the harvest season as Saliaris Fasseas describes. “In Agios Pavlos Halkidiki, one of the most popular tourist destinations and a long-standing region of grape cultivation that our farms for grapes are situated, this was the most early harvesting time ever. Our grapes are we harvested all the are late-season IFG/Bloom Fresh varieties, we picked an entire month earlier than the norm! We couldn’t believe it! God may have picked a weather pattern which is ideal for travel however, not so for our customers at the supermarket that want to buy fresh European grapes to be available during November.”

The impact on the Greek Grape Company has been very minimal as they’re able to harvest ample grapes to choose from. Saliaris Fasseas tells us: “In Agios Pavlos, Halkidiki is exceptionally fortunate as we are located in North Greece we don’t face hot summers or have plenty of drinking water unlike Murcia or South Greece. We have an advantage in having well-groomed plants as well as a crisp grape crop. In the past, we were the top spot in terms of quality at one of the most renowned UK supermarket. This year, what affected us was the time of harvest that fell around the period as a surge of Spanish production. Also, the grapes need to be covered by plastic rain cover. Our farms are all covered by hail nets. We must consider making an expense to cover the rain too.”

“Due to the cooler weather there were no residuals this year in two kinds of plants. The amount we spray is always over 70 times smaller than EU allowances with regards to residues since we spray bio-products with the final mile just before the harvest. Therefore, the current crazy conditions could affect us in a positive way.”

According to Saliaris-Fasseas the demand and the prices are both currently at a high level following prices that were substantially less than last week “The wine industry is in outstanding and prices are very high in the current week. Prices up until last week were lower, because there was a glut of Spanish fruits with barely any remaining shelf life had to be relocated. The grapes always go out of stock in the month of October. This year, however, the shortfall began at the beginning of September. It’ll be interesting to find out how autumn and the back-to-school promotion will go this year.”

“Prices were reasonable, given that there is an enormous demand for fruit in Greece from visitors, and Crete’s southern regions Corinth and Crete produced less fruit and had problems due to the conditions. In the end, need was high for the northern regions of Greek fruits. Price is currently excellent and are expected to rise significantly during October. I believe a significant amount of South American fruit, with the logistics hurdles are likely to begin heating up market in European markets.”

Supermarkets have been trying to provide the same quality of the availability of grapes throughout the year, but Saliaris-Fasseas is concerned about the risks by offering a variety of kinds “We exclusively grow late season patent-pending varieties, which means our grapes are highly in demand. The trend is to special packs as well as brands seeking to provide uniformity on their shelves for 12 months. I’m an avid fan of that product and believe that the category of white, seedless could benefit from having fewer options. Customers are under pressure to produce profits, however putting a uncrunchy fruits on shelves will reduce sales in the weeks following regardless of whether it improves Excel spreadsheets better since the cost of buying is cheaper.”

The year ahead, Greek Grape Company has renewed emphasis in German consumers. German market. “We have begun partnering with the Kavala-region exporters in the year 2000, rather than focusing on exports directly the fruit, which we then sold into local markets and German supermarkets. The fruit was top-quality upon arrival. This method of business is quite new for us, because we’ve always been UK focussed and had just one German supermarket to choose from as a customer,” Saliaris-Fasseas concludes.

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George Saliaris-Fasseas

Greek Grape Company

Email: [email protected]

www.ggc.gr