Kiwi Passion is searching for partnerships in Peru, Argentina, and South Africa

Kiwi Passion is a consortium which associates 14 commercial entities and packing houses across Europe: 1 cooperative in France, 1 in Greece, 4 in Spain and 6 in Italy. It was established in 2019, even though its first orchards were planted in 2016-2018. 

“We’re basically controlling the entire supply chain on every stage, from production and packaging to commercialization. We offer premium varieties: Red kiwifruit (Red Passion) and Gold kiwifruit (Gold Passion). 70% of our production is dedicated to the red variety, and another 30% to the gold kiwi”, says Nicola Negri, president of Kiwi Passion.

Last year, Kiwi Passion commercialized only 100 tons of kiwifruit, but the feedback from the clients was very enthusiastic. 

The main goal of the Consortium is to continue investing in innovation, both varietal and technical, supporting and encouraging farmers to grow fruits with an exceptional quality fit to stand out in an increasingly competitive and demanding market.

This upcoming season 2021/22, Kiwi Passion projects to harvest 500 tons of red kiwi and 300 tons of yellow kiwi. 

The first volumes will be available to a limited number of large-scale retail customers, mainly in Italy and Europe, along with various tests in the overseas markets, such as the USA, Canada and South America. 

The consortium expects to double its volume every year because the majority of trees have been planted in the last 2 years and they haven’t reached their full capacity yet. 

“With the volumes that we have today we can cover the window of three months. But our target is to cover the late part of winter and, in the future, even until March. Currently we’re looking for partnerships in South America, particularly Argentina and Peru. We also are looking for partners in South Africa, where we already have a license, and where our varieties are already registered”, explains Negri.

According to Negri, in April 2021, in Europe in general, especially in the North of Italy and South of France, there were frosts when all the plants were starting vegetation, which drastically influenced the crop volume. 

“For us, control of the frosts with a plastic cover was an efficient way to avoid damage, and producers even have seen an increased size of the fruit and a very good quality”, says the president.

“We expect to reach our full capacity in 4-5 years. Our kiwifruits have an excellent taste and are much sweeter than the green variety, while externally it looks like a green kiwi. Its content of vitamin C is 5 times higher than that of oranges” , concluded Negri.

For more information about Kiwi Passion, see the website

For contact: nicola.negri@kiwipassion.it