Grape on the outside, kiwi on the inside
The exotic kiwi berries were originally grown in Siberia, Japan and Manchuria. This means that the berries are used to low temperatures with extreme cold and are frost resistant. Breeding has made the fruit more durable and extremely resistant to diseases and pests. “The kiwi berry vine grows up to six meters high and can reach a length of 15 meters. A vine produces ten to fifty kilos of hand-picked fruits,” explains Michael Tessmann. The harvest takes place at 6 to 7 ½ brix. At this point, the product is very solid and will be stored at one or two degrees.
The berries can be stored for about four to five weeks. The fruit itself weights between five and fifteen grams. Just like a 'regular kiwi', a typical white kiwi core can be found inside the kiwi berry. Around the core you can see the black seeds and the usual lines of a Kiwi. “Before the berries are delivered to our customers, they are stored here at Marktvertrieb for a day or two in a seven degree cold store,” explains the importer, “The berries are slowly ripened. They are delivered to the market once they reach a brix level around 10. Ideally, the kiwi berries should be soft if you want to consume them. In this state you can taste the sweet kiwi flavour.“
The vision of a year-round supply
Currently, the kiwi berries are only available twice a year, Between September and October from German growers and between March and April from Chile. “However, our task is to ensure that we can deliver our kiwi berries all year around at some point,” Michael Tessmann explains. “Unfortunately this is currently just a vision but we have already built our first plantation in Bosnia. We also have future plans for another plantation in Morocco. You need many locations to cover the whole year. In addition, it takes three years for a kiwi berry plant to develop fruit. Harvest is carried out in just once day and after that, unfortunately the fruits are only able to be stored for four to five weeks. If you miss the point of harvest, the berries are too soft to be delivered.”
Kiwi berries available in food retail
In the food retail sector, the berries arrive in a covered box that consists of eight, 125 gram snack shells. “Each shell contains about nine to twelve berries,” Michael Tessman declares. Marktvertrieb supplies large supermarkets and discounters such as Edeka, REWE and Aldi regionally with their berries. “Currently, there are no giant amounts of berries to supply the whole market,” Tessman explains, “For example, our berries are currently available in Edeka supermarkets within the Rhine-Ruhr and Minden region.” The retail price of a 125-gram-box of kiwi berries from Chile lies between 1,40 and 1,80 Euro. German Kiwi berries are a bit cheaper due to the smaller cargo share. In September the retail price for German kiwi berries will be between 1,20 and 1,60 Euro.
Kiwi berries from their own growers
The company Marktvertrieb been operating for more than 35 years. Originally founded as a trading company for the entire fruit and vegetable sector, the company is now specialized in selected highly-sensitive products. The kiwi berries from Germany are grown, for example, by the company itself under its own initiative on a plantation near Jülich in Northrhine-Westfalia.
For more information:
Michael Tessmann
Marktvertrieb Dieter Schwerin GmbH
Paul-Rücker-Str. 6b, 47059 Duisburg
Tel: +49 (0)203 9931823
michael.tessmann@marktvertrieb.de
www.marktvertrieb.de