Even in the midst of the European economic crisis, Greece’s Zeus Kiwi has its eye on a stronger, more productive national kiwifruit industry.

General manager Christina Manossis spoke with www.freshfruitportal.com about keeping ahead of the trends and satisfying even the most demanding of international markets.

“Greece is now a major player in the kiwifruit business, especially the last two years. Italians had a shortage which helped Greek kiwifruit evolve more in new markets,” she said.

“Due to the crisis, many companies who didn’t act professionally are going to get out of the business. There’s going to be a more clear vision for kiwifruit. Greek growers are investing in new equipment and new facilities to be more competitive.”

On Zeus Kiwi’s end, maintaining professionalism has meant pushing company standards beyond local expectations.

Manossis explained that the company has worked to perfect a fruit traceability system since 1996, even while other Greek businesses have not made the same effort. The company has now had full traceability since 2005.

“We have total control of the steps and procedures through production to final export. This is something that’s not very common in Greece. This is a competitive advantage that we have right now for the Greek kiwi,” she said.

As a company that produces almost exclusively for the export market, developing a traceability system meant achieving the demands of even the strictest importers.

“We were always sending our produce to high demand markets like the U.K. We couldn’t miss having a traceability system established. U.K. customers are the most demanding ones and it was impossible not to develop a traceability system,” Manossis said.

The manager explained that each kiwifruit from the company’s 5,000 tons (MT) of production now comes with its own identity and history.

As more plants come into maturity, Zeus Kiwi hopes to reach up to 6,000 MT of fruit during the next season.

With the company barely able to meet international demand now, Manossis has her fingers crossed for an even stronger year.

At the moment, the Greek company supplies most of its fruit to the U.K. and other parts of Europe. Its produce also arrives to Asia, North America and the Middle East.

Manossis highlighted China, Canada, Scandinavia and the United States as key growing markets.

In particular, clients are vying for golden kiwifruit.

“The yellow variety is very distinct. All of our clients from China, the U.K., the U.S., they keep asking for yellow kiwis. It seems that yellow kiwi production is not enough to meet demand right now,” she said.

As a primary producer of the green variety Hayward, Zeus Kiwi already has amplified golden kiwifruit production in the works.

Although no details have been released yet, Manossis said the company, alongside businesses from Italy, is funding research at the University of Udine to develop new, more manageable golden varieties.

www.freshfruitportal.com