Greek kiwis take Indian market by storm

Greek kiwifruit had a successful season this year in India, which conquered the markets with its quality, once again confirming the reputation of the product.

According to April 2023 data, Greek kiwifruit ranked second in terms of import volumes in the Indian market, just behind Zespri kiwifruit of New Zealand. At the same time, the Indian consumer seems to primarily prefer the Greek product.

In particular, this year 2022/2023 season, as Saurabh Tanwar, representative of an Indian fruit importing company, explains to freshplazza “for Greece, India appeared to be the fastest growing market and Greek kiwifruit is more valued here compared to Italian kiwifruit. Seeing this success, I believe that Greece will maintain the focus on the Indian market in the next season as well.”

The “secret” of success

The ban on the import of kiwifruit from Iran to India seems to have favored the Greek product. As Tanwar points out, although kiwifruit from Iran has been banned for the past two seasons, many Indian importers were still importing it illegally. But “Indian intelligence intercepted Iranian shipments of kiwifruit, which gave Greek exporters an opportunity to send larger quantities to India,” he explains.

Greek kiwifruit also had to compete with Italian kiwifruit, but according to Tanwar, the Greek product was of better quality: “After the ban on kiwifruit imports from Iran, India’s alternative options were Greece and Italy. Greece had the most successful season in terms of quality and also had the quantities, which India requires. Plus the prices were very reasonable. I believe that if Greece continues to produce a quality product and prices remain stable then our market will never demand Iranian kiwifruit in the future.”

It should be noted that from the beginning of September 2022 until June 2, 2023 the cargo announcements registered in MENO (the data has been processed by the Incofruit Hellas Exporters Association) Greek kiwifruit exports to India reached 20,133 tons against 1,630 tons of the corresponding last season.