"The prickly pears are stable, good and beautiful"

Patrick Nusslé from the Swiss Giovanelli Fruchtimport AG reports on the current prickly pear season: "For the smaller quantities in my day-to-day business, production was perfectly adequate." The company imports these exotics mainly from Italy and Colombia. Small lots are coming in from Mexico. The main season is in summer and autumn.

Price developments this season are not unusual, says Nusslé:
"Low prices are typical for the Italian goods, but that is the same every year. So we see little influence from factors like heat or too little rain. Prickly pears from Colombia are flown in, which costs more, but there too we see no large price differences compared to previous years." The quality of the fruits is just as good this year. "The goods are steady, good and beautiful," says the trader.

"We have had prickly pears in our assortment for about 15 years, when there was demand during the Christmas season; since then, they have been available practically all year round." Demand has remained strong at Giovanelli ever since. Prickly pears can be obtained from Italy until October or November, after which there fruits from Colombia or Israel are available.

The Giovanelli company trades and supplies prickly pears to retailers and caterers in the German-speaking areas and in the French and Italian speaking areas of Switzerland. The main products are exotics, berries, mushrooms and asparagus. "We are now working with mangoes from Spain, which are currently in their peak season," says Nusslé. Apart from that, Giovanelli is working on the expansion of the company premises to improve its storage capacity.

For more information:
Giovanelli Fruchtimport AG
Schaffhauserstrasse 200
CH-8500 Frauenfeld
Telefon +41 52 728 09 09
info@giovanelli.ch
www.giovanelli.ch