The harvesting of Fragolà, the brand that identifies mountain strawberries at Kingfruit, started a few days ago. It is a product grown at 1200 meters asl in the Verona province as well as in soilless crops, and it guarantees a constant production with excellent crunchiness, organoleptic quality and Brix level. "Plus, we also used recyclable packaging," stresses CEO Massimo Ceradini.
"Thanks to the temperature difference between night and day in our mountain area, fruits develop a crunchy and firm texture. We also employ disease prevention systems and useful insects for our Murano remontant variety. Fragolà Park is located in an area with a strong tourist-environmental character where the fruits have found their natural habitants.
Soilless cultivation was a choice dictated mainly by the aim to achieve sustainable development and by the will to reduce waste.
"This production technique enables us to reduce the soil used but, most of all, the volumes of water needed, with average annual savings of 20%. Everything without affecting plant productivity and the unique characteristics of the fruit. Mountain strawberries in fact present a higher sugar content, plus we have collected positive feedback over the years regarding their long shelf-life."
"Our choice to focus on this late variety was a good one, because it enables us to supply out-of-season produce when consumers are convinced they can no longer find high-quality fruits on the market."
Fragolà park also features an R&D greenhouse dedicated not only to the development of new varieties, but also of systems to collect rainwater, dispose of the nutrient solutions not absorbed by the plants and maintain the microclimate inside the greenhouses.
"The objective is not to increase quantities, but rather to improve quality by extending the production season: a healthier, nutrient and sustainable strawberry from an open-cycle production system to a closed-cycle crop."
For further information
Massimo Ceradini
Kingfruit
+39 045 8510268
info@ceradinigroup.com
www.ceradinigroup.com