watermelons

Greece is anticipating a good melon season this year, according to Evangelos Sofranos of Greek Stories, a trader of Greek foods based in the Hague, in the Netherlands.

Sofranos said that he expected a total harvest of some 150,000 tonnes this year, FreshPlaza reported, predominately from Crete and the Peloponnese and followed later by northern and mainland Greece.

'The warm and sunny weather has benefited the fruits, both in terms of quantity and quality,' Sofranos said.

However, he added that the economic crisis had forced those trading in Greek produce to look for alternative markets throughout Europe.

'Due to the crisis the market orientation is mainly fixed on export and on developing new business abroad,' he said. 'Now we have customers all over Europe, in countries such as Holland, Germany, Austria, the UK and Scandinavia.'

Greece's melon and watermelon season began on 15 May, with mini-watermelons set to be harvested in mid-June.

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