Greek's
agriculture sector was already facing a challenging 2015 before the economic
turmoil this week, but now there's fear the uncertainty could disrupt the food
and wine trade.
Some food companies are refusing to make deliveries
unless they are paid upfront and there are reports of empty store shelves as
panicked consumers try to buy food. Also, key farm inputs such as fertilizers,
pesticides and fuel also are usually imported and will require payment in
advance in hard currency that is no longer available.
"Imports (have) already ground to an
immediate stop and exports are limited to the available transport currently in
Greece," said Frangistas, who also serves as managing director of exporter
Gefra.
Even before Greece headed towards default on
its IMF loans on Tuesday there were troubles brewing on the agri-food front.
Last year, Greece's ag sector got hit after Russia banned EU food imports.
Russia was once responsible for importing more than half of the Greek peach
crop and most of its strawberries, and the Greek kiwi fruit market was growing,
too.
Greece's total ag exports last year totaled
about 5.5 billion euros, of which fruit and vegetables represented about a
third, according to Incofruit. In the U.S. market, top Greek imports include
olives, olive oil, honey and wine.
Ted Diamantis, president of Diamond
Importers and Naturally Greek, termed the current situation
"frustrating." The Chicago-area businessman imports wine and food
products from Greece and just returned from a business trip to Athens. He said
businesses have been told they should be careful about transferring money to
Greece because of a perceived risk of the IMF seizing funds.
Agriculture, including crops, dairy, wine,
fishing and forestry, makes up about 3.5 percent of Greece's GDP and represents
about 13 percent of the labor force. Olive oil represented nearly 9 percent of
Greece's total agricultural output last year, according to Eurostat.
Earlier this year, Costco changed the sourcing
of its Kirkland brand olive oil from Italy to Greece. That followed a weak
2014-15 harvest in Italy that caused prices to soar for Italian olive oil.
Costco didn't respond when contacted for comment. About 25 percent of the Greek
olives get shipped to the U.S. market, and one of the most popular table
varieties is the Kalamata olive used in salads and named for a city in southern
Greece.
Meanwhile, Greek wines are enjoying growing
demand despite increasing worldwide competition. Greek wine is shipped to more
than 35 countries around the globe but three countries-Germany, France and the
U.S.-represent about 66 percent of the total volume exported.
"We have not experienced any issues in
receiving product from Greece," said Andrea Englisis, president of Athenee
Importers in New York. "We have more orders that are set to leave this
week and have been advised that there will be no interruptions in
service."
Diamantis believes the Greek wine industry
should be able to weather the current crisis because there's strong demand at
home for the Greek wine as well as in the global marketplace. "There's a
silver lining to all the turmoil," he said, adding that consumption of
Greek wines is trending higher at home as pride builds during the crisis and
people seek out local wines to drink.
Πηγή:
cnbc.com
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