Family enterprise from south Moldova city exports exports all grapes produced in 2024 to EU market

Chisinau, 6 November /MOLDPRES/ - Terra Vitis is a business of the Mihov family from the Burlacu village, southern Cahul district. With a history of 20 years, the company produces pears, sweet cherries, table grapes and field crops. The visiting card of Terra Vitis represents the table grapes and the collection of native and international varieties, tested by the enterprise, has about 200 species. Despite the challenges triggered by the unfriendly weather conditions from this year, Terra Vitis managed to get a harvest of grapes similar to the one from the last season, according to the Moldova Fruct Association.    

„We harvested this year between 25 and 30 tons of grapes per one hectare, at the Gable and Pergola systems. If we make a comparison, the indexes are at the level of the year before and maybe a bit better; yet, our expectations were to register 20 per cent more than we had last year,’’ the export manager at Terra Vitis, Varvara Mihov, said.   

The Mihov family exports six varieties of grapes from an area of 42 hectares. ‘’The key of success represents for us the high quality and the relations which we establish with the importers. We are certified Global G.A.P., and to be sure that the product which we export is conforming, we make the needed analyses at laboratories from Moldova and in Italy,’’ Varvara Mihov also said.     

The company managed to deliver 640 tons of grapes for export from the current year harvest. The supply exceeded the demand and the grapes were sold exclusively on the European Union’s market: in Poland, Romania and Germany.    

„We got a better price for the grapes this year due to quality, as well as to the ever higher rating got by the grapes from Moldova on international market. We are proud that we managed to deliver during this season, for the first time ever, grapes to the Lidl network of shops from Romania. The condition on behalf of the network was to deliver the grates in IFCO returnable boxes. This was a challenge for us: we delivered the harvested and pre-cooled grapes and on the same day, the product was already on shelf. On the other hand, we faced the bureaucratic aspect, charging of customs duties and temporary reception of boxes on the country’s territory. Nevertheless, we made sure that the advantages of the use of the returnable packing are incontestable,’’ the manager of Terra Vitis also said.    

Varvara Mihov is part of the Export Mentorship Programme, initiated by Moldova Fruct with the support of the Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity in Moldova project of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Ukraine-Moldova American Fund for Enterprises. Within the programme, the export manager represented the company at the Fruit Attraction exhibition in Madrid.