The Greek harvest is fully underway, passing the halfway point, says George Saliaris-Fasseas, founder of Greek Grape Company: "As far as Greek seedless grapes are concerned, we are in the second half of the harvest in our Halkidiki, in northern Greece, vineyards. The Kavala region has just started harvesting, the Corinth area is in full swing, and Crete is finishing. With the new patented varieties planted and taking more ground in conjunction with the hot weather in the south, it seems that everything is coming to be harvested at the same time."
© Greek Grape Company
There's currently heavy competition on the market, especially as Spanish and Italian grapes are also available, Saliaris-Fasseas explains. "In addition, Greece has collided in harvest times with Spain and Italy. As a result, most of the European supermarkets are offering promotions to move fruit, sometimes of lower quality, during a period when sales are stagnant. I believe from next week onwards things will get better, as they do every year when schools open, and good fruit will take its deserved place on the shelves and customers will benefit."
The good news is that there are plenty of good quality grapes available, thanks to a much better yield than expected, Saliaris-Fasseas states: "As far as quantity goes, we were caught off guard. Grapes are much heavier compared to last year. The fruit is more concise, and in all our varieties, we have more kg per hectare. Even in fields that are harvested now, we harvest more fruit than we expected, which, of course, is great for us. In addition, we have amazing quality, with great sizes and extra crunchiness of the berries. So as far as production is concerned, we can only ask for every season to be exactly like this one... No more, no less! "
"We always want to improve and are curious about new things. This year, we did a trial with an AI system, which is mounted on the front of the tractor. With the aid of computer vision, it performs bunch formation and disease detection. It's still in the trial stages, but we're looking at working with the team to make it work for the next season. We've also finished an experimental program with the Agronomic University of Athens on targeted fertilization (4P), with very positive results on quality and our sustainability metrics."
Saliaris-Fasseas hopes the current vibes last for a little bit longer, especially in terms of weather, so that Greek grapes in general will do really well in the supermarkets: "The weather is forecasted to be great for the next ten days, as it has been until now, and I hope it remains this way, so that the Greek grape quality all over Greece impresses supermarket buyers and their customers this year, up until November. Greek marketing needs to improve, so the right fruit manages to achieve Italian and Spanish prices, as it started to achieve last year in late October."
For more information:
George Saliaris-Fasseas
Greek Grape Company
Email: [email protected]
www.ggc.gr