While kiwi was once virtually unheard of in Greece, today, the fruit has become one of the country’s most notable agricultural exports. The kiwi’s growing popularity has its roots in the work of Greek agronomist Tasos Michos, whose experiment began with just ten young plants.
Michos, who died in 2023 at the age of 94, is widely credited with introducing commercial kiwi cultivation to Greece. He also gave the fruit its Greek name, aktinidio. What began as a small agricultural experiment in northern Greece eventually developed into an industry that now sends hundreds of thousands of tons of Greek kiwifruit to foreign markets.
How ten kiwi plants ended up in Greece
Born in Korisos, Kastoria in 1929, Michos studied agriculture in Thessaloniki and later continued his studies abroad, including in Florence and Paris. The idea to cultivate kiwi in Greece came after he read about the fruit in a French agricultural publication. Michos noticed that the soil and climate conditions needed for kiwifruit appeared similar to those found in parts of northern Greece.
According to Michos’ own account in an oral-history interview recorded by Istorima, he arranged for ten young kiwi plants to be obtained from New Zealand through an agricultural institute in Florence. The plants were taken to Svoronos, near Katerini in Pieria, where they were cultivated experimentally and grew successfully. The result demonstrated that kiwifruit could adapt well to Greek conditions and opened the door to wider cultivation.
Why kiwi is known as aktinidio in Greece
Michos also played a role in shaping how Greeks came to know about the fruit. Rather than simply adopting the international name “kiwi,” he called it aktinidio, from the Greek word aktina, meaning ray. The name refers to the fruit’s appearance when sliced open, with its dark seeds arranged in a radial pattern around the center. The term was eventually adopted across Greece and remains the standard Greek name for kiwi today.
Kiwi cultivation spreads across Greece
Following the success of the first plants, cultivation expanded around Pieria before spreading to other agricultural regions. Today, kiwifruit is grown in areas such as: Imathia, Pella, Kavala, Xanthi, Arta, Preveza, Phthiotis, and Aetolia-Acarnania. The crop offered farmers a commercially attractive alternative to traditional products. Its long storage life also proved valuable because kiwifruit can remain in controlled cold storage for months, allowing exporters greater flexibility in supplying overseas markets.
Pieria remains closely linked to the history of the crop. Aktinidio Pierias has been recognized under the European Union’s Protected Geographical Indication system.
Greek kiwi becomes a major export
The scale of the industry today bears little resemblance to Michos’ original ten-plant experiment. According to data from the Association of Greek Fruit, Vegetable and Juice Exporters, Incofruit Hellas, Greek kiwifruit exports amounted to 208,679 metric tons between September 1, 2024, and April 17, 2025. That represented a 14.2 percent increase from 182,762 tons during the same period a year earlier.
The figures marked the first time Greek kiwifruit exports had crossed the 200,000-ton threshold in the season. Greece has consequently become one of the significant players in the international trade of kiwi, with Greek produce reaching markets far beyond Europe.
The legacy of Tasos Michos
Michos lived long enough to witness the dramatic growth of the crop he helped introduce to the country. In his interview, he recalled the arrival of the original ten plants and his decision to grow them in Svoronos because he believed local soil and climatic conditions closely resembled those in New Zealand. What followed illustrates how a relatively modest agricultural experiment can have consequences far beyond its original scope. Ten young plants planted near Katerini helped establish a crop that would spread across Greece, support growers in several regions, and develop into a major agricultural export.
More than half a century later, kiwi has become firmly embedded in Greek agriculture, while the story of how it arrived remains closely associated with an agronomist willing to test out a new idea.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
