Investments are set to continue at Greek exporter Zeus Kiwi, according to general manager Christina Manossis, not least in the development of the highly sought-after gold kiwifruit.
“New Kiwiplant is the company based in Italy, which is responsible for marketing the new gold kiwifruit,” says Manossis. “We are a shareholder, along with another Greek company and two Italian companies. We do the research into varieties of gold kiwifruit, and our efforts of the past ten years are bearing fruit. We have two varieties, planted in Greece and Italy. We just organised a field day to allow visits to the orchards. Our intention is to expand production in Europe.”
New Kiwiplant varieties are intended predominantly for the Asian market, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, but Manossis reveals that the company is also seeing some interest from the UK. And with gold kiwifruit volumes set to rise, the company will need more coldstorage space.