When talking about cherry tomatoes, the Pachino area comes immediately to mind and, when talking about that, it is impossible not to talk about Cooperativa Aurora.
"We have been considering diversifying our offer for a long time and we thought about dried tomatoes immediately. Before we could start, though, we had work out how to guarantee their safety as the produce is dried under the sun and it can lead to pollution problems due to insects and fine particles," explains Salvatore Dell'Arte, chairman of the cooperative.
"This is why we decided to process the tomatoes in a controlled environment and we built two ovens for quick drying. We currently produce 2,000 kg per week."
"Results were excellent: not only is the product healthy, but we managed to maintain the colour as well as the organoleptic qualities unaltered."
Dried cherry tomatoes are sold by the cooperative to the main Italian and foreign retailers as well as online in 1 kg or 100 g packets. Clients can buy them and see the various procedures at www.pomosi.com.
Contacts:
Salvatore Dell'Arte
Soc. Coop. Agr. Aurora
C.da Scivolaneve
96018 Pachino (SR)
Tel.: (+39) 0931 594389
Email: coaurora@tin.it
Web: www.coopaurora.net