The kiwi market has almost reached its peak season and will continue to grow over the coming weeks. The Munich fruit agency Oettle & Griessmeyer, with a focus on Greek produce, is also ready for a good kiwi season. “Due to low yields in Italy, the current prices are about 20 percent higher than in the previous year, and from January and February it will probably be even better,” says Managing Director Michael Morgott.
Currently, sales are not very good, although the fruit importer expects sales volumes to increase steadily over the coming weeks. Morgott: “It usually starts after Christmas. Contrary to the numbers of kiwis, quantities of Greek Navelina and navel oranges are currently much smaller. The latter saw some significant damages due to the rain and hail in early November and are therefore relatively expensive. The prices are about 10 to 15 percent higher compared to the previous year. At the moment, Spanish goods are cheaper and are more in demand with the customers.”
Asparagus
Together with his business partner Kiriakos Karakassidis, Morgott leads the import company -located in the Münchner Kontorhaus- with import lines to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria, amongst others. The day-to-day business has changed significantly during the 25-year career of the two gentlemen. Karakassidis: “One of the biggest developments I've seen was the rise of the asparagus business. When I started, there was still a lot of acreage in Greece. Now there is hardly any.” His business partner Morgott agrees with him: “As soon as German goods are on the market, the demand for Greek asparagus is almost nonexistent.”
According to Morgott, it started in 2008 with the German asparagus. “Thermo films and special heating systems were used to explosively increase the yields of German producers. This is no longer a natural product. Previously, we imported some 1000 tons per year from Greece. Nowadays we have completely stopped importing Greek asparagus. The main problem is the early season in Germany. You can now harvest German asparagus from the beginning or middle of March until the end of June.”
For more information:
Oettle und Griessmeyer - Frucht-Import-Agentur GmbH
Inh. Michael Morgott & Kiriakos Karakassidis
Großmarkt München Kontorhaus Zimmer 213-218
Thalkirchner Str. 81, 81371 München
+49 89 72680
oettlegriessmeyer-m@t-online.de