A delegation from Tucuman visited CAR in Rome

Thousands of Italians have emigrated to Argentina in the past, now its Tucumans lemons that "migrate" towards the Italian markets once local stocks are over.

"At least 300 thousand kg (12 thousand containers for over €400,000) a month," explained CAR during the visit of a delegation from Gobierno de Tucuman, led by its governor Juan Luis Manzur and including MPs, diplomats, administrator, the dean of the University of Tucuman and representatives from Ggf Trapani and Citromax. The region covers 22,000 sq m north-west of Argentina and has one and a half million inhabitants. In 2017, it was the leading lemon producer in the world. It's a very fertile land, nicknamed 'El Jardín de la República' (the Garden of the Republic).

"Tucuman is a big producer and Italy is a big lemon producer and consumer. But consumption has increased so much that the domestic fruit is no longer enough, so it needs to import produce, although many companies import Argentinian produce through Spain. A direct relationship would mean better trading conditions and better prices," explains Fabio Massimo Pallottini, general manager of CAR Rome. 

"Argentina is a large country where Italian culture is important. Eating habits are rather similar to Italy. Another fundamental aspect is the exchange of know-how. "Governor Juan Luis Manzur was in fact interested in working together on a project to modernise the province's distribution system."

The tour had the dual purpose of implementing trade and acquiring know-how for Argentinian companies looking for technical and logistic solutions capable of developing the territory's great potential.

Manzur stressed that his province exports 150 products to 150 countries. There are also four Universities. In addition to lemons, the province produces strawberries, blueberries, avocados and sugar cane. Argentina has 43 million inhabitants, produces 50 million's worth of food and could triple its performance. "The production history is linked with the climate -there are crops located at 400 and 1200 metres above sea levels," explained Jorge Neme, the province's secretary for international relations. He added that local companies need cooperation to work on an international level and be competitive on a global level.

Fabio Massimo Pallottini, who's been guiding Car for the past 12 years, stressed the importance of internationalisation. "We have been working on international relations for a few years with the purpose of helping companies part of Car so they can import and export produce more easily. These events provide the opportunity to establish fruitful relations between entrepreneurs."

Over 15 years, the Roman organisation has evolved to become the leading organisation in Italy, also thanks to its international relations. 20-25% of the products come from abroad and its members are increasingly interested in the foreign market. Its 'Italy Project' developed an internationalisation strategy for Italian know-how.

It's a service and consultancy package to "create platforms that range from feasibility studies to start-ups passing through technical assistance. Italmercati leads the project together with other three companies focusing on engineering, financial services, agriculture as well as a law firm," explained Roland Tomatis, manager of Car's international activities.

A study to create a public-private alliance to export know-how to the province of Tucuman is next. "The model must be adapted to the local context and we will carry out an analysis to develop a platform or adapt the existing one." Car is already collaborating with Fao on projects focusing on food security in Nairobi and a few African cities characterised by sudden urbanisation. Logistic platforms could help slow down the depopulation of the countryside and facilitate the procurement of local products.