The Greek Kiwi season began fantastic, with just one issue during harvest According to Ioannis Lamproulis from Greek producer of fresh fruits and vegetables Oporello: “This year, the season for kiwis started off with high hopes, thanks to the huge demand that started at the start. The harvesting process went without a hitch and there was only one issue: the shortage of workers in the harvesting process in certain areas. Overall, all kiwis were picked at the right time and in the range of 30 % to 40% smaller quantities of fruit harvested than the previous year’s harvest. Oporello achieved this year’s harvest quantities of about 4.5 thousand tonnes of Hayward Kiwis, and 500 tonnes from the Greek varieties Tsehelides. To date, about the majority of our kiwis have been packaged and sold so the selling season will run through April.”

While demand has been strong across the board, this isn’t being reflected in the price of Greek Kiwis, Lamproulis explains. “The present demand is very strong however, prices do not reflect the market’s conditions. We’re requesting higher rates, considering that the cost of purchasing on the field were around three times more than the previous year. The European, USA, Canadian and Asian markets do not seem to be in a position to keep the same offer as we have made. Iranian Kiwis have made an enormous impact on the Indian market, and in the future, Chilean ones could affect the market of USA and Canada quicker.”

Lamproulis mentions that there was some issue regarding the weather in the cultivation period, which resulted in lower quantities of kiwis “This time, we faced unlucky flooding on the territory of Thessaly throughout September. These caused a decline in the cultivation of kiwis in certain areas. Additionally, the short winter is likely to have had an impact on the yield and we got less the fruits we harvest in our fruit orchards. In the end, our season will come to an end in the near future. Already, we’ve been thinking about the next kiwi season and we’re eager to find out how challenging 2024/2025 will bring.”

In the near coming years, Oporello is building new cooling chambers that allows them to keep kiwis in an atmosphere that is safe. Further investments in other products are also expected, Lamproulis says. “Until the end of the year 2024 it is our intention to be making the construction of coolers with new designs, which allows us to maintain robust and healthy kiwis in an atmosphere that is well-controlled within our area. We’re currently in talks with an international producer of fresh fruit, who plans to make investments on Greek markets. Greek market. It’s not just about fruit kiwis, but also the fruit like cherries, apples and stone fruit. Greece has been gaining popularity because of the production. Businesses are also more advanced in that they are embracing new methods and adopt models that be applied internationally. The new markets we are able to enter are embracing our product and the reviews are generally favorable. We have the confidence and the confidence to make more investments into this industry.”

The kiwi harvest is almost gone, Oporello will focus on various exports of its products, and may even import a variety of fruit varieties to satisfy the demands of travelers in Greece: “We are at the start of the season for kiwis this year. This year, we’ll close the year with fresh pears, apples and apple juice. before May we’ll be waiting for the fresh harvest of cherry and stone fruit to begin. Greece will also require imports of fruit this summer, such as citrus fruits, lemons, apple as well as other fruits in order to meet the massive demand expected to be generated by the increase in visitors to Greece’s Greek islands. Our goal is to meet this need and will end the season in September and then begin planning for the new one.” Lamproulis concludes.

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Ioannis Lamproulis

Oporello

Tel: +302410972700

Email: Lamproulisi@Lamproulis.gr

www.oporello.gr