Low domestic consumption and high competition abroad mark the season of Greek carrots

The characteristics of the summer carrot production in the plain of Thebes, the most important summer cultivation area for this vegetable in Greece, are mixed. Mrs. Fotini Papaefstathiou, a member of the management of the local production and trading company Katselis, points out: “The quality of the product is not uniform in our area. It differs depending on the cultivation practices applied by each grower. The same mixed picture applies to yields per hectare. In this case, what mattered was at what stage of development the summer heatwave found the carrots in each field. Those that were at the stage of carrot formation have a problem.”

However, what is uniform and the same for everyone is the poor commercial performance of carrots this year. Reports speak of €0,40 per kilo for the producer, a price that is not satisfactory. Still, Mrs. Katseli comments that the situation is far from stable: “There are no fixed prices. Foreign markets offer something different every day, depending on what supply exists in Turkish and Belgian carrots, but in any case, the outcome causes despair. We are facing great pressure in the Balkans and in other European countries from the very competitive prices offered by Turkey and Belgium. In the domestic market, there is no competition from imports. There is simply no demand.”

The Katselis company’s facility in Thebes is fully vertically integrated, organized according to GLOBAL GAP-GRASP and IFS standards, and markets its products in bulk as well as in a variety of packaging under its own brand. “We trade carrots all year round. At the moment, we are in the market with carrots produced by our own company, and we will move on to supply from other growers when our own stock is finished, but given the way things are going this year, we do not know when that will happen. So far, we are facing a situation where a portion of the mature production is exceeding its endurance limit,” notes the executive of the Greek company.

Finally, according to Katselis, the cultivation and harvest of the largest share of production takes place during the autumn months in the plain of Neochoraki.

For more information:
Fotini Papaefstathiou
Katselis
Tel: +30 697 700 2449
Email: info@gkatselis.gr
https://katselis-sa.gr/eng.html