"I cannot say what percentage of the cropwas destroyed, but the cherries were affected," said Stavros Panagiotidis of Nea Exfrut. He cited rain and hail that hit cherry-producing areas as the reasonfor the disruptions.
"Because our company is long-establishedwith long-term partnerships, there is really no difference for us from year toyear," he said. Similarly, with Greece mired in economic trouble, Panagiotidisbelieves the nature of the export business has helped mitigate domesticeconomic conditions.
"There is uncertainty about the future, butbecause our business is in exports we don't suffer as much as people who workwith internal markets," he said. But with less income all around, he noted thatprices have been low. So in tough economic times and a crop affected by rainand hail, Panagiotidis thinks they've been able to weather the situation thanksto only dealing with exports – something which has even helped with the qualityof fruit they offer.
"There will be some problems with somecherries this season," he said. "But because we only do exports, the farmer hasto worry about dealing with lower-quality fruit, but we won't get thosecherries. The quality of our cherries will be OK."
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ΝΕΑ EXFRUT
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