The delegation was made up of Dariela Roffe-Rackind (Director,Europe and Global Public Relations - www.almonds.com) and Laura Morin (Group Account Director of SRG Sterling Rice Group – www.srg.com) who, thanks to the collaboration of APEO in the person of Nicola Suglia, met up with operators.
A briefing was held in the morning at Albergodelle Nazioni in Bari, followed by a meeting at the Bari Chamber of Commerce, where the delegation was welcomed by Secretary General Angela Partipilo, Lega lManager Vincenzo Pignataro and Director of the Borsa Immobiliare di Bari Luigi Di Carlo.
The delegation and its guests at the Bari Chamber of Commerce.
After a discussion on almond production in Puglia, the two visited the historic building of the Chamber of Commerce and, in particular, the location of its goods exchange where contracts and agreements are signed every day.
At 11:30, the delegation reached the SAMER analysis lab, which cooperates with the Bari Champerof Commerce, Director Piero Pontrelli and his staff illustrated the monitoring and analysis stages (fruit, water, soil and food in general).
Towards midday, they visited Alfrus in Modugno. It is a family business that specialises in the processing of almonds from the Italian, Spanish and Californian market.
One of the partners, Domenico Sisto, welcomed the delegation with his collaborator of US origin Victor "Vito" D'Amato, and answered questions.
Left to right: Domenico Sisto, Victor D'Amato, Dariela Roffe-Rackind, Laura Morin, Nicola Suglia.
Domenico explained that the Californian almond sector is rather interested in Italy. “They want to understand how consumption works in our country, as it is finally picking up after prices sky rocketed 3-4years ago. Almonds are now very popular as a snack and they are also in high demand by the processing industry.”
“Trees need 4 years to reach full production andit alternates. Anyway, there are interesting cultivars with characteristics suitable for both the processing industry and for consumers.”