A recent conference on kiwifruit and its competitiveness on international markets organised by the CSO organisation in Italy has found that the European country is ranked second in production output behind China, while it leads the way in exports ahead of New Zealand. Just five countries account for 87 per cent of the global kiwifruit crop: China, Italy, New Zealand, Chile and Greece, and some 1.2 million tonnes are exported annually, with Italy accounting for 33 per cent ahead of New Zealand on 31 per cent. The study, carried out by Professor Carlo Pirazzoli and Dr Alessandro Palmieri from the university of Bologna, found that the lowest cost production areas in Europe are Greece and southern Italy, while the highest cost are France, and Piemonte and Veneto in Italy.
