Italian producer starts niche production in Albania

After working for 25 years as international Programme Manager in several organisations, such as the United Nations, the European Security Council and lately in a number of different NGOs, Davide Chiavegatti built up his own experience within agriculture, through the different projects in which he was involved, which eventually led him to venture into it for himself.

"Just after the Kosovo crisis, in the year 2000, while working in Political Affairs in Albania, I met the woman that was soon to be my wife and since then my romance with her and her country has never stopped. After living all around the world, we made the decision last year to move back to Albania from Italy, with a fierce determination to become an agricultural engineer," explained Davide.

Davide said that he was lucky to meet a 'nice young chap with a lot of land' with not much experience in business and no international connections, so the two decided to form a company together (currently in process of legalisation) and our aim is to produce "niche products" for the European market.

The pair have started the business by producing Brindisi Violet/"Francesino artichokes" this season, on 12 hectares of land and have decided to focus on Goji berry production next year.

"We are currently selling our 1st class Brindisi "French" Violet Artichokes (>200 grams/head), to the Italian market, but we would like to expand production and find wholesalers for the UK market, for our harvest in November. Our first harvest will be around 1 million pieces. The artichokes were a perfect way to warm up the engine, so to speak, since the vegetable is rustic and robust, plus we have another Italian producing artichokes next to us, who was willing to give us the sprouts we needed to start the plantation," continued Davide.

"If you consider that we have 150 hectares (370 acres) in all, you can easily understand how this initial piece of land is just only the start."

The young production company is committed to teach young farmers how to increase their income by producing more profitable products, not just limited to fruits and vegetables, but including plants and flowers as well. Albania currently imports 95% of what it grows from Holland.

"We are currently working on certifying all of our products as organic, which should be completed in two years time," Davide concludes.

For more information:
Davide Chiavegatti

Email: davidechiavegatti@hotmail.com