“To store long, or not to store long; that is the question for pears this year”

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The harvest of Greek pears is nearing completion, according to Mr. Michalis Malakos, manager of the company Tyrnavou Gaia from Tyrnavos. As he states: “The harvest is currently continuing only with the Krystallia variety (similar to Blanquilla), which will finish around August 25th. The prices producers receive for these are increased to 0,80 euros per kilo. The harvest of Kosia and Santa Maria varieties was completed a few days ago, with producer prices for these also increased to 0,70 euros per kilo. In both cases, we are talking about a 30-40% increase due to the significant drop in production.”

© Tyrnavou Gaia

Mr. Malakos questions the WAPA figures for the current Greek pear production: “The 19,3% decrease reported compared to last year is not at all reflective of reality. This year, the fields with the highest production have only about one-third of their normal yield. There are orchards that, due to the severe frost last spring, have lost 90% of their production.” Regarding the fruit sizes, he adds: “In Kosia and Santa Maria we see mostly A and 2A sizes, while in Krystallia the A size dominates.”

© Tyrnavou Gaia

Regarding the commercial circulation of the products, the Greek businessman notes that the economic difficulties in European markets have not managed to lower prices. “We export pears to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, as well as to Egypt and Jordan. Although we face economic difficulties everywhere, the fact that both Italians and Turks have reduced production keeps demand and prices high,” he explains.

© Tyrnavou Gaia

“Low production and high demand. With these conditions, we have not managed to accumulate many Kosia and Santa Maria pears in our cold storage. It seems their stocks will be depleted in two months,” says Mr. Malakos. However, the big dilemma for Greek traders is how they will choose to store the Krystallia pears this year: “We all wonder if it is worth working with SmartFresh this year. Its use is to help pears maintain quality in cold storage beyond December. However, using SmartFresh increases storage costs and does not make sense if stocks will be depleted before that time.”

“Early depletion of Krystallia is possible. However, the use of SmartFresh cannot be applied later in the season. It must be done from the beginning — and we only have a few days left to decide,” Mr. Malakos emphasizes.

For more information:
Michalis Malakos
Tyrnavou Gaia
Tel: +30 241 083 1010
Email: [email protected]

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies