The larger grades were sold on the domestic market, as that's where they reach a higher price.
Abroad, the Italian produce had to compete with Greece, but the pressure wasn't as high as last year. Up until the Christmas period, most of the produce was directed to regular customers in accordance with supply programmes. Then, however, new clients who used to only purchase Greek produce started becoming interested in Italian kiwis.
According to CSO Italy, 53% of the produce available at the beginning of the campaign was sold before mid-February against 44% in the previous year. Kiwi stocks in Italian warehouses are therefore 35% lower than last year, with -22% saleable produce available at the beginning of the campaign.
Prices have been generally better than last year, which was characterised by abundant supplies and fierce competition from Greece. Prices have been good to fair for medium grades. Punnet quotations are not only higher than last year, but they are actually just below those of the 2014-15 campaign.
After an initially stable period, the first positive signals were registered in mid-January, but prices actually increased around mid-February.
Grade 27 is currently recording 5 cents more than at the start of the year, while the price of medium grades is stabilising, with slight increases.
Big grades are still not doing great on the Spanish market, which is generally more interested in cheaper produce.
In the meantime, average volumes and active destocking are enabling operators to sort supplies to improve the quotations of the remaining produce.
The next few months are therefore looking good thanks to the lower availability of the Greek produce, higher demand from Eastern Europe, manageable quantities available and the good quality of the fruit.
Of course, at the end of the campaign, it will be interesting to assess whether the increase in prices obtained met the high initial expectations and if it will be enough to compensate for this year's lower production.
Source: CSO for FreshPlaza