In the late 1990s, Oppenheimer realized that in order to remain a kiwifruit category leader, we needed to engage new sources of supply. While we served our customers across North America with New Zealand and Chilean fruit April through November, our distribution of California kiwifruit, in season the other months of the year, was limited primarily to the West.

Enter Panos Papakyritsis and the Kiwitamin label of Greek kiwifruit.

Panos is an Athens-based kiwifruit contractor who connects about 180 green kiwifruit growers with marketers worldwide. Most of his fruit is sold in the Kiwitamin brand, which Oppenheimer first sold in 1999. Panos is responsible for the export of about 800,000 trays of kiwifruit annually; 40 percent of which is marketed by Oppenheimer between November and March.

"Greece has an excellent climate for producing kiwifruit," Panos said. "Many of the orchards are located near the water - alongside the Aegean and Ionian Seas. Bright summer sun, a touch of humidity, and cool evenings help bring out the kiwifruit's flavor."

Despite record temperatures in parts of Europe last summer, Greece's kiwifruit industry was largely unscathed. This year's Greek kiwifruit harvest began on schedule in the second week of October.

"We wait to harvest until the sugars are at the right level," Panos said. "We do not harvest below 6.5 brix, but often our fruit is near 7 when it comes off the vine."

Harvest brix is important because if kiwifruit is picked too early, it will never ripen properly and it will disappoint the consumer, Panos said.

Panos' expertise comes from nearly 25 years in the produce industry. In 1981, he began working as a representative for Red Delicious apple growers in central Greece. Over the years he has been involved with the exports of watermelon, nectarines, peaches and other items in addition to kiwifruit.

He spends most of his time visiting orchards, measuring the sugar levels of the fruit and monitoring fruit quality and size along with the general growing conditions.

Panos particularly enjoys the scientific aspects of kiwifruit growing. An avid reader, he considers himself a "Renaissance scientist," following the latest trends not only in agriculture but also in physics, medicine, and technology.

Interestingly, Panos received his education less than a mile from our Seattle office at the University of Washington, where he studied microbiology and genetics as part of a pre-med major.

His fellow Huskies in the Seattle office are looking forward to his next visit to the Emerald City!