Spreafico Francesco e F.lli, a leading fruit and vegetables company for over 65 years, expands its borders towards Greece with the aim of widening its offer of Mediterranean fruits with a new country of origin, interesting both for its quality and its competitiveness. Spreafico Hellas is a further and natural expansion of the Group's entrepreneurial experience.
The control of the supply chain as guarantee of quality, a wide supply window, and a particular attention to consumers are the three basic drivers of the company.
Involvement in Fruit farming, post-harvest management, sourcing and distribution on national and international markets have always been the leverage points for Spreafico Italy and for its Chilean subsidiary. The Group can count on this expertise to expand its horizon further and develop the new project in Greece.
"Greece is an interesting production area for us because of its favourable climatic and social and economic conditions", comments Alberto Garbuglia, project coordinator. "Farming in Greece is undergoing to an interesting shift from extensive crops to fruit production and this is made possible because the availability of suitable land, water for irrigation in plenty, and of a proactive entrepreneurial environment".
Spreafico is planning to source several products from Greece. Kiwifruit is the most immediate opportunity, because the crop in Italy is rather small this year and the market is promising. "We still have a good amount in stock that will allow a continuous supply until April" comments Alberto Garbuglia.
In the medium and long term Greek kiwifruit is expected to strengthen its position and competitiveness in the global market, as Italian fruit growers are increasingly oriented to plant yellow kiwi. Furthermore, the changed climatic conditions of recent years and the emergence of new diseases make the production of green kiwi fruit more uncertain in different areas of Italy. Differentiating the origin means mitigating the supply risk.
Other interesting opportunities are stone fruits, for which there is an interesting development driven by the expansion of new orchards planted with the newest and most popular varieties; in addition, citrus fruits are becoming increasingly interesting as the old Valencia variety orchards are replaced with late Navel varieties in the western region.
"The centre of our activity is the central-eastern area of the Hellenic peninsula, where the river plains at the foot of Mount Olympus record extraordinary conditions for fruit growing", continues Alberto Garbuglia. "Our supply network expands throughout the plain west of Thessaloniki (Veria, Skydra, Naussa) and along the coastal plains of Arta and Agrinio. Our goal is to distribute Greek products mainly on the European market and Italy, and especially in those countries where quality and convenience are the drivers when choosing Mediterranean fruits, regardless of origin".
For further information:
www.spreafico.net/en/