There were two trends in the Italian fruit campaign in 2013: summer was brief and complicated because of the weather but abroad Italian products did well. This is precisely what happened to the Sanifrutta cooperative, which has always worked on internationalising stonefruit, kiwis and PGI Cuneo red apples.
Alessio Chiabrando, working in the sales office of the cooperative, told FreshPlaza that "because of the consumption crisis and competition from Spain, we have to find new markets outside the EU for our less perishable products like kiwis and apples."
"Peaches are very volatile. They used to be very profitable but not any more, despite the fact that the start of the campaign seemed good. The second part was even worse, as the quality of the fruit was not as good."
Enzo Garnero and Alessio Chiabrando.
In the stonefruit sector, plums are growing rather interestingly, as 60% is destined overseas and the remaining 40% is sold within Europe.
As regards the kiwi campaign, Chiabrando says that "volumes are a little better than during the previous campaigns and things look promising. Demand is lively both in Europe and overseas."
But the true "queen" of Sanifrutta are PGI Cuneo red apples. "They manage to catch the intercontinental trend and, this year, they did not even have to deal with stocks from the Southern hemisphere. Gala (summer apples) and Red Delicious (winter apples) also did well."
As regards the fact that Cuneo red apples recently obtained the PGI mark, sales manager Enzo Garners said that "of course we wanted the certificate, especially since they are our flagship product. Unfortunately though, the mark is still not really recognised abroad, where organoleptic qualities, colour and grades are still the main elements consumers look for."
The sales manager concludes that "to be competitive export-wise, we need structured business relations, a more advanced organisation and logistics to guarantee the freshness of the produce and a capability of organising supplies according to the changes in demand, i.e. quality only wins when combined with organisation."
Sanifrutta cooperative will attend Fruit Logistica, Hall 2.2 - Stand B-02 ("MADE IN PIEMONTE" area): sales managers Enzo Garnero and Alessio Chiabrando will represent the company.
Contacts:
Sanifrutta soc. agr. coop.
Via Dei Falchi, 13
12024 Costigliole Saluzzo (CN)
Tel.: (+39) 0175 230061
Fax: (+39) 0175 239440
Email: sanifrutta@sanifrutta.com
Web: www.sanifrutta.com
Contact persons:
Alessio Chiabrando, cell.: (+39) 331 1904112
Enzo Garnero, cell.: (+39) 335 6998168