“We have more fruit in the larger sizes, like 20, 23, 25 and 27,” said Olivier Skrock of Festival SARL. “We're a little bit heavy in the market on those sizes.” Brix levels are good this year, so Skrock is optimistic that the quality of this year's fruit will help growers sell their kiwifruit this season. However the good Brix levels will also make the season shorter, because the growers can’t store the product so long.
Domestic prices, while good, especially on smaller sizes, have been kept in check by competition from abroad. The effect of foreign competition is even more pronounced in Northern Europe, where Skrock sends a good portion of his exports.
“The German market has prices that are a little lower than Scandinavian countries because of fruit from Greece and Italy,” said Skrock. “To compete with Italy and Greece is difficult because their prices are lower. For the moment, the French market is okay because we're getting paid well, but, though some supermarkets in France prefer French product, many buy based on price. So there's also volume from Italy here.”
For more information:Olivier Skrock
FESTIVAL Sarl
France
olivier@festivalsarl.fr
www.festivalsarl.fr