Low strawberry yields but excellent quality

When talking about the "Fragolà" brand, Massimo Ceradini explained that the market is good, prices are high and production is limited due to the weather. Quality is also excellent.

"We're pleased with the prices as they're in line with expectations. The produce is excellent and demand is lively. The problem is the opposite, actually, as we're harvesting less than half of what we could do. The delay in ripening is due to the weather, as it's been cloudy with low temperatures."

It seems more like spring than summer. The lack of high temperatures hinders ripening, so fruits are indeed sweeter and crunchier, but there are fewer of them. 

Soil-less cultivation helps optimising nutritional inputs. Combatting pests is made easier by polytunnels, so few treatments are needed and they are carried out well before the harvesting period. Thousands of traps have been placed against Drosophila suzukii although the pressure of the insect is rather low.