A series of missions and contacts have already been made in these countries by eight organisations from Imathia and two from Kozani, representing a total of 6,500 fruit producers (of peaches, nectarines, kiwis, apples, pears, cherries and apricots) accounting for the largest share of the country's fruit exports, with a total turnover of 170 million Euro, of which 98% is generated from exports.
Fruits and compotes
In addition to fresh fruit, processed fruits such as peach compote, fruit salad, pear and peach juice concentrate and frozen fruits like peaches and apricots have also been affected by the embargo. Cooperatives and producer groups, including DP New Aliakmon, DP Middle, DP Naoussa, Naoussa ASEPOP, DP Venus, DP Diocese and DP Melikis took the initiative to form a consortium and extended their cooperation with producer groups from Kozani, like ASEPOP Velvento and DP Velvento "Demeter", in an effort to coordinate their search for new foreign markets, particularly after the uncertainty of the Russian embargo.
The promotion of their products is to be pursued through a common tariff policy and a single brand, called «Great Fruits». The Head of the consortium, Chris Giannakakis, an industry executive with extensive and vast knowledge and experience in the production and distribution of both fresh and canned products, is leading this effort to open new markets for Greek fruit.
The first mission in the Arab countries was in mid-November in Saudi Arabia, and included participation in one of the largest international food fairs in the Arab world, the Foodex Saudi 2014, held in Jeddah, and a series of meetings with major supermarket chains and distributors.
Last Wednesday, a meeting was arranged with supermarkets and importers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the next mission will take place on 15 December in Cairo, Egypt.
The president of the consortium also approved a new three-year programme for the promotion of Greek agricultural products, with a total funding of 4 million Euro, in four Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.
These countries have a combined population of 40 million people and certainly cannot replace the 140 million of the Russian market, says Mr Giannakakis, adding that what differentiates them from Russia is their higher economic level.
The shipment of fruit will be carried out in special reefer vessels from the port of Piraeus in about eight days, which automatically gives Greece an advantage over Spain. The country's major competitors, according to Mr Giannakaki, are Italy and Turkey.
As for Egypt, interest has been shown in Greek peaches. The country itself is a peach producer, but these are early and their season ends in mid-July. "So we are negotiating to cover the Egyptian market with our late peaches in August," says Mr Giannakakis.
