Current status of the Current status of the dehydrated fruits industry in dehydrated fruits industry in

GreeceGreece

Elias Papapanagiotou Lecturer

Department of Food Hygiene and TechnologySchool of Veterinary Medicine

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki54124 Thessaloniki

GREECE

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Main dried products produced in Greece

• There is no serious production of dried vegetables in Greece. The vast majority of vegetables is marketed fresh both in the internal and external market (exports).

• There is a big industry of dried fruits in Greece aiming both at the internal and most importantly at the external markets (exports). The two products that are mainly dried in Greece are:– Figs– Raisins

• Korinthian (Currant)• Sultanina (Sultana)

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Strategic advantages of Greek agriculture

Minimum use of fertilizers and pesticides. Greek mean is well below the E.U. mean for use of fertilizers. The use of pesticides in Greece per hectare is 5-6 times lower than that of Holland, thus enabling production of top- quality products due to excellent climatic and soil conditions.

Mediterranean diet (wine, cheese, olive oil, fruits and vegetables) is attracting all the more attention worldwide nowadays.

Great biodiversity in Greek cultured fruits and vegetables. Ranking first within the E.U. and one of the highest in the world.

Raisin market situation in Greece

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Raisin production in Greece

The production of raisin is a traditional cultivation in Greece. Greece is the only raisin-producing member-state within the E.U.

The cultivation of raisin brings a substantial income to a large number of Greek families and is a significant part of Greek exports.

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raisin cultivation in Greece

The cultivation of raisin is mainly divided into two categories:Korinthian raisin or Currant (showed an increase of 2%

during 1992-96). The majority of the production is dried and only a small percentage is marketed as fresh.

Sultanina raisin or Sultana (showed a decrease of 13.5% during 1992-96). The majority of the production is marketed fresh and only a small percentage is dried.

81.7% of currant and 78.3% of sultana is exported. During 1992-95 the exports of sultana were decreased by 44%.

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Raisin production process in Greece

The collection and marketing of the currant is done by the National “Autonomous Organization for Raisin” or A.O.R.

The collection and marketing of dried sultana is done by collective organizations and mainly by the “Central Collective Organization for Sultana” or C.C.O.S.

The improvement of conditions of storage and transportation of both products is necessary both in the internal (Greek) and the external (exports) markets for the enlargement of the market spectrum for both of these products.

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1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Currant 48% 56% 46% 40% 49%

Sultana 42% 38% 36% 36% 37%

Raisin production statistics in Greece (1992-96)

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Sterea Hellas and

Evoia

Peloponnisos

Ionian islands

Crete Aegean islands

Currant 10 44,529 4,830 - -

Sultana 1 4,800 - 31,968

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Raisin production (tonnes) and geographical distribution (1996)

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1992 1993 1994 1995 1992-95

Currant 32,191 38,631 39,410 32,690 +1.5%

Sultana 40,638 31,694 25,410 28,239 -44%

Raisin exports in tonnes (1996)

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1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02*

Production

39,300 42,600 40,100 28,700 39,000 30,000

Exports 32,000 34,000 30,000 25,000 32,000 23,000

Production statistics for Sultana (tonnes)

*=Temporary data

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Sultana Market competition

Turkey, Iran, South Africa, Australia USA (outside the E.U.)

*Spain is emerging as a serious competitor (within the E.U.)

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Raisin Market chain analysis

Overproduction of Currant and the need to find new markets for Greek exports has lead to the creation of A.O.R. (Autonomous Organization for Raisin).

A.O.R. is responsible for the collection, standardization and export of marketable currant on behalf of the producers.

60-70% of the production is exported by private companies, while the rest is exported by collective producers organizations

For dried sultana the exports are the responsibility of collective producers organizations through the Central Collective Organization for Sultana (C.C.O.S.)

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Legislation on raisin

E.U./Regulation 426/86 as amended by Regulation 1596/92 is the cornerstone of the Common Market Organization within the EU for raisin.

E.U. legislation is referring mainly to Greece since it is the only raisin-producing member-state with the exception of Spain which has a small but promising production.

From 1994-95 a financial help per hectare was introduced for the cultivation of sultana and currant destined for drying.

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Legislation on raisin

This financial aid is given after the collection and after the products have been dried at least to an extent of 90% of the fresh production.

In general, the E.U. financial aid is considered significant. During 1996-97 this amounted to ca. 222 € for currant and ca. 278 € for sultana.

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The impact of G.A.T.T. on raisin market

The most important impact of GATT for raisin is the abolition of the minimum price during the imports of raisin from third countries from 2000 onwards and the tax cut from 3% to 2.4% at the end of 2001.

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Problems and suggested policies in Greece

Greece has the MONOPOLY of currant within the E.U..

Greece is the ONLY raisin producing country within the E.U.

The E.U. financial aid is important and has made the income from raisin highly competitive vis a vis that of wine production.

Apart from this E.U. financial aid, other measures such as the renewal of old cultivations and the increase in size of each individual cultivation will help the growth of the market.

Emphasis must be given to storage and preservation of raisin to avoid deterioration and thus increase marketability during storage.

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Problems and suggested policies in Greece

Diversification policies must be adopted in view of the international (non-E.U.) competition

Quality standards for the fresh produce and the end-product must be high

Greek “Own-label” products internationally acknowledged for top-quality and value

Strategic management, marketing and publicity of products internationally must be maximized in order to secure steady demand for exports

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Current situation (2002)

Year 2001 production of white (Sultana) and black (currant) raisin was much smaller vis a vis year 2000, due to bad weather conditions (heat waves, rainfalls) that occurred during the summer throughout Greece.

Year 2001 exports of Sultana were much lower vis a vis year 2000 due to the price policy adopted by the C.C.O.S.

Year 2001 exports of currant were lower vis a vis 2000.

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1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02*

Production

51300 43500 44100 35900 41100 37875

Exports 37286 33108 28000 32450 28042 26079

Production statistics for currant

*=Temporary data

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Projections for the current production period (2002-03)

The current production of raisin will be much smaller due to the prolonged rainfalls in August that damaged the fresh produce. More specifically the following productions are expected: Sultana (20-22,000 tonnes) Currant (25-30,000 tonnes)

The E.U. status of financial aid per hectare for the current production period remained unchanged, as follows: Sultana (for minimum production of 3

tonnes/hectare)=3,290 €/hectare Currant (for minimum production of 2,1

tonnes/hectare)=3,080 €/hectare

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Important legislation pertaining the raisin production (Regulation 1621/99)

The contracts between Producers’ Organizations and the Drying Industry are valid ONLY if they were signed by the 31st of July.

The delivery of the fresh produce to the Drying Industry must be finalized by the 30th of November.

The applications of the Producers’ Organizations and individual producers for financial aid must be submitted to the Greek Ministry of Agriculture by the 31st of December.

The E.U. financial aid is given in two deposits (70% upon delivery of the product and 30% in April next year).

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Raisin processing factories in Greece

12 raisin factories exist and they are of the latest technology.

5 of them with a total production capacity of 50 tonnes/hour are situated in the Peloponnisos and are processing currant.

The remaining 7 factories have a total production capacity of 100 tonnes/hour and are situated in Crete and are processing sultana.

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Raisin factories in Crete and their corresponding capacity

Raisin factories Capacity (tonnes/8hours)

C.C.O.S. 45 Association of Sultana Producers’ in Crete S.A. 50 Melissidis S.A. 60 Toskoudis S.A. 70 Export Association of Sultana S.A. 60 Cretex S.A. 40 TOTAL 325

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Collective producers’ raisin storage facilities

Surface area (m2) Capacity (tonnes)

C.S.O.S. 13,600 9,520 E.A.S.I. 3,700 2,590 E.A.S. Monofatsiou 3,900 2,730 A.S. Kastelliou 1,000 700 A.S. Acharnon 2,500 1,750 A.S. Krousona 1,700 1,190 TOTAL 26,400 18,480

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Factory raisin storage facilities

Surface area (m2) Capacity (tonnes) C.C.O.S. 1,700 1,200 Association of Sultana Procucers’ in Crete S.A. 1,450 1,000 Melissidis S.A. 5,000 3,500 Toskoudis S.A. 3,500 5,000 Export Association of Sultana S.A. 7,500 2,500 TOTAL 26,300 18,400

Dried fig market situation in Greece

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Dried fig

Dried fig show a steady production and exports trend over the last years.

The main processing, standardization and export collective organization center is in Kalamata, namely SI.KI.KI.

The second center recently developed is in the area of Kimi and Istiaia in Evoia, where another type of white fig is cultivated and thus a different type of dried end-product is produced clearly differentiated from that produced in Kalamata.

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1997-98

1998-99

1999-00 2000-01

2001-02

Marketable

Production

5,598 5,584 5,702 5,715 5,894

Exports 3,850 3,630 3,727 3,824 3,684

The situation on dried fig over the last 5 years

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Main E.U. legislation status impacting on Greek fig production

The minimum producer’s price (the price at which the Drying Industry is buying the dry produce)=827,86 €/tonne.

The E.U. financial aid to the producer=286,2 €/kg.

This year the producer’s prices seems that will be higher vis a vis last year’s prices, set at 1,5 €/kg for prime-quality product.

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Fig exports

Over the last years, a clear decrease of exports is evident towards the “traditional” Greek export markets (Germany, Holland, U.K. etc).

At the same time, a steady increase is evident towards new export markets outside the E.U. (Canada, Hungary, Italy etc.)

Competitors of Greek fig exports are mainly: Turkey (30-32,000 tonnes/year exported to the E.U.), Spain (8,000 tonnes production) and Syria that mainly exports to the E.U.

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Destination Country Exports (tonnes)

Germany 503.4

Italy 322.0

USA 491.0

Canada 592.7

Austria 600.0

Egypt 238.6

Israel 12.4

France 7.0

Holland 0.6

Hungary 592.7

Poland 43.9

Australia 288.3

TOTAL 3,684.0

Greek fig Exports profile according to destination country and tonnage

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Projections for the Greek fig production of Year 2002

The current production is expected to be much smaller that last year’s production mainly due to the heavy rainfalls of August that predisposed the fig cultivations to disease incidents.

Thus, the 2002 production is expected to reach a total of ca. 5,300 tonnes of which ca. 4,800 tonnes will be exported.

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Fig Production by Prefecture (SI.KI.KI., 2002)

Prefectures Production (tonnes)

Messinia 3,625

Lakonia 1,050

Arkadia 55

Lesvos 38

Evoia 500

TOTAL 5,268

Quality Assurance vis a vis Food safety and Public

Health

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Quality Assurance Implementation Programmes

• ISO 9000• HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)

• Total Quality Management• Environmental Management Systems• CE Labelling• Accreditation

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Quality assurance of foods in Greece. Public Health issues

• “The food chain is as strong as its weakest link”

• Monitoring and surveillance nation-wide programmes to safeguard Public Health.

• E.F.E.T. (Greek Food Safety Authority). Belongs to the Ministry of Development. Controversial issue between the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Agriculture.

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“Farm to Table Approach”

• The control over the food industry MUST be correct, integrated and effective in order to:

• Be precautionary, continuous and covering all aspects from production to the consumer.

– “Farm to table approach” or “Stable to table” or “Farm to fork”

• Be based on sound, modern and effective legislation and scientific knowledge

• Be implemented by highly specialized scientific personnel in all stages of the production process

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References

• Greek Ministry of Agriculture (2002)• Agricultural Bank of Greece (2002)