"When I was first contacted by a grower in Croatia, offering me kiwano and some other lesser known exotic fruits, I thought he was joking. However, once I started doing some research and found out that they were already being sold to the Netherlands, I became really excited and wanted to be a part of the project," shared Edona Blakaj, owner of Connect Albania.
As more and more consumers are becoming health conscious and looking for foods that have anti cancer properties, and a lot of these lesser known fruits such as kiwano, but also Mongolian berries, Mongolian cherries, Indian bananas, bitter gourd, lemongrass, mini guava and acelora can be a great alternative. What many may not know is that the Balkan climate is perfect for these types of fruits. Another aspect of growing the healthiest fruits possible is minimising the use of chemicals and the Croatian grower, Exotic King, believes that if you care for the plants properly, it is possible to make it strong enough so that it is capable of protecting itself.
"These exotic products are cultivated in the EU, which makes it very attractive for trading because of the shorter transportation time. The goods are ready to eat in Holland, just 17 hours after they are harvested from the field. I hope to put these kind of products more on the market with help from the grower, like different kind of pumpkins, cherimoya, yuzu orange, fingerlime etc. The European market is already selling very low volumes but we have it here in the Asian stores and markets more often," Edona continued.
"Variation is key to a healthy diet, which is why products like kiwano are a great way to do this. The grower, Exotic King, is already known in the sector and has been growing for the last 20 years. A fruit like Babaco that has been really challenging for Ecuadorian producers to pass the MRL's for export. In Croatia, babaco is being produced in a biological way, with insects being controlled by natural predators. The CO2 footprint is also very small."
Exotic King has year round production of kiwano, and produces mini guava, and fujoa in open field production, twice a year. They are also working on making lemon grass available year round.
"Many people do not realise how perfect the Croatian climate is for growing. For example, they are also able to harvest their avocados three times a year. I find it strange that we are importing from far away destinations, paying all that money for air transport, when we have the potential to source them from a closer destination where we would be helping the environment, while also getting fresher food," urged Edona.
For more information:
Exotic King
