Distributors of prickly pears fruits are sought

Annotation

A Greek agriculture cooperative specialised in the production of prickly pears fruits is offering its production. The branded product is a high quality prickly pear produced with the highest quality criteria. The product meets the requirements of the most demanding markets. The cooperative is willing to collaborate under distribution services agreements.

Offer description

Domiciled in the south part of Greece, an innovative new established agriculture cooperative engaged in the cultivation and trade of prickly pears fruits is looking for commercial partners in all partner countries. In particular, the cooperative aims at internationalizing its business activities through entering into new markets without of any specific preference. Their reference point is the investment in resources, time and expertise, in order to meet the needs of modern farmers and consumers. With the guidance of scientists, they aim to find new ideas and techniques proven to offer a better quality result, with respect to the environment. As regards the offered product, it is a high quality prickly pear produced with the highest quality criteria. Like most cactus plants, it has long spines on the shoots that helps the plant retain its moisture. The fruit has a pear-shaped figure. It is fleshy with many seeds and the flesh has many small spines (5-8 centimeters in length) which ripen during August and September. Its beneficial properties vary. Take as an example that it is rich in vitamin C and A. It contains also amino acids, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium et cetera. It stimulates the immune system, helps to reduce stress and stabilizes the cholesterol which helps to lower blood pressure. The described agriculture product is offered without spines either individually or in packages of one pound (about six pieces). With regard to the cultivation process, the cooperating farmers rely their production on the dry and rocky places of the local area with warm and dry climate. In respect of the propagation process, they can propagate prickly pears in two ways; either by seed (sexual propagation), or by extracting a shoot (asexual multiplication) of the mother plant which is placed for a few days apart soil before being planted. Planting can be made throughout the year in two ways depending on the season and the climate; either planting a sheet in the ground or leaving it on the ground and putting a stone above it until roots appear from the lower side of the sheet. With respect to its current market, the overall turnover of the cooperative is accounted roughly for 1 million euro. It is a new established entity (established in 2014) with high growth rate. Their total annual production exceeds currently 100 tones and follows an increasing trend year by year. The cultivation takes place in an area of more than 500.000 square meters of virgin and fertile land. Now, the cooperative would like to expand its operations by establishing distribution services agreement with entities (occupying up to 500 workers) such as wholesalers, traders, brokers and distributors form all partner countries active in the field of agrofood.

Innovations and advantages

The cooperative consists of 117 producers from 4 prefectures. Their action is based on three principles: -the protection of soil health -the ethical entrepreneurship with social and environmental responsibility -the vertical production line The production and cultivation process is strictly aligned with the requirements of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production.

Technology keywords

07001004 Crop Production

Market application codes

07003002 Health food
09005 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Animal Husbandry & Related Products

Profile date

16.03.2019