“Kiwi prices are high at the moment because Italian production was cut by about 15 percent due to frost damage,” said Christina Manosis, general manager of exports for Zeus Kiwi in Greece. But she added that, due to the absence of similar problems in Greece and the way the Greek market works, prices have been much lower in her country.
“There are many traders here who want to sell very cheap,” said Manosis. She explained that the large number of small growers who lack cold storage facilities are much more inclined to work on smaller margins because they lack the ability to wait for better prices. That causes prices for the local market to remain low when, like this year, there's no shortage of fruit in Greece.
“Prices are much lower than they should be because small traders like to sell cheap and finish the season early instead of storing their fruit and waiting for better prices,” said Manosis. “But that's not what we do.” She said that, instead, Zeus deals with enough volume and has the logistical capabilities to work with customers who aren't necessarily looking for the cheapest price from small suppliers.
“We don't compete with the small growers because we supply markets with much higher demand,” said Manosis. “They don't have our reach because they have quality problems and lack organization.” Zues sells to large clients in the U.K., Belgium, China, Canada and the U.S., and although they don't handle as much volume as the large Italian growers, they are far enough removed from the small domestic growers so as to not be affected by the downward pull of current Greek market prices.
“We're not really affected by who's selling the cheapest in Greece,” said Manosis. “Our clients want a steady supply of quality fruit, and we've proven we can be stable.”
