The kiwi campaign continues with good sales and prices for larger grades and difficulties for the smaller ones. Specialising in kiwis could lead to them becoming a point of reference and conquering new clients and markets.
Left to right: Agrintesa Director Cristian Moretti and Alegra Director Mauro Laghi
"The kiwi campaign is in full swing with high-quality fruit. We supply the domestic and foreign markets until produce from the other hemisphere becomes available in spring," explains Agrintesa Director Cristian Moretti. At Agrintesa, the drop in production caused by last year's frost is of around 15%.
Watch a video of kiwis being processed
Greece is putting less pressure on the market, and quality is lower than ours. "The management of the Greek produce is not always clear and clients don't always understand the difference between products."
Agrintesa's kiwis are commercialised by Alegra, directed by Mauro Laghi. "Foreign markets are our main destination and Alegra is a point of reference for the international market. We handle considerable volumes available throughout the season and can supply the quality required as well as complete services. We are doing a good job on both traditional foreign markets such as Germany and Great Britain as well as in new destinations such as Australia, the US and China."
Agrintesa owns 1,800 hectares of green kiwis and 700 of golden kiwis. A few years ago, the cooperative decided to specialise by qualifying its production and segmenting its supply.
"All markets have different needs, according to which we produce, sort, process and package our kiwis. We set up a lab in our Castel Bolognese (Ravenna) facility to assess the quality of each single batch."
Agrintesa kiwi producers visit the facility
"Our group aims at providing the best answers to both clients and producers."
On 2nd February 2018, we talked to Moretti and Laghi at the facility. Thanks to the new processing line and other investments, the plant is now more efficient and quality has improved.
Contacts:
Agrintesa
Via G. Galilei, 15
Faenza (RA)
Tel.: (+39) 0546 619111
Fax: (+39) 0546 621270
Email: moretti.cristian@agrintesa.com
Web: www.agrintesa.com