"The current 2025 citrus crop year is proving particularly challenging, with heavy rainfall from January to the end of March. More than half of the working days in the first three months of the year were rainy. We are therefore bucking the trend compared to previous years when there was a severe drought with a similarly significant impact on the harvest," says Silvia Magliocco, Export Manager of PASAM Citrus.
Silvia Magliocco
"The rainy season caused major problems, not only in terms of supply, since it was impossible to access the lemon groves to pick the fruit," explains the expert, "but especially with regard to the sealing of the product. The fruit, soaked by the rain, suffered from mold and problems like the reduction of the product's shelf life; the product would arrive in the warehouse perfectly healthy on the outside, but after 2-3 days would go bad and rot quickly. We then carefully sorted the product to contain the problem, and it was not until the rains stopped in early April that we were able to see a significant reduction in spoilage."
Lemons
"The current month has also seen a recovery in demand for Syracuse lemons. This is mainly due to the reduction of the product in Spain and Turkey," continues the manager. "In fact, the Iberian Peninsula has experienced heavy rains and a drastic drop in temperatures, which has led to the loss of some of its Primofiore lemons. As a result, growers were forced to harvest the Spanish Verna, with an increase in prices due to the low quantities on the plants. In Turkey, the production of Meyer lemons has almost come to an end; in this case, January was unusually warm, which led to the growth of new plants, while in March there was frost and severe cold, with serious consequences for the plants and, of course, for the product."
"This is the reason for the aforementioned increase in demand for our lemons, which are now coming out of the emergency phase," says Magliocco. "We are in the process of switching from harvesting Primofiore lemons to harvesting Bianchetto lemons. While the former is now at the end of its cycle, completely yellow, even with dark yellow ends, the latter is pale yellow, strong and vigorous, with a slightly wrinkled skin. The latter has a much longer shelf-life than the Primofiore, with a little less juice, but with an intense aromatic essence, making it very sought after on European markets."
Virginie Wera
PASAM intensifies its international participation in trade fairs
"In terms of sales, we now have two marketing specialists working with us in Europe," says the export manager. "They are Virginie Wera, in charge of the French and Benelux markets, and Alessandra, in charge of the German-speaking markets, as well as Poland and the Netherlands. Thanks to this team, we have a considerable sales network that allows us to have relations with the most representative countries in Europe, to the extent that our internationalization rate is 70% of the total."
"Together with Virginie, we attended Medfel in Perpignan on 23 and 24 April, a famous exhibition with over 250 exhibitors representing the main players in the French food chain," concludes Silvia Magliocco. "Over the last few years, we have indeed continued to grow in the French market, mainly thanks to our partner. We've managed to increase our sales by about 30% in the last few years, which is fantastic. Our main customers are wholesalers and importers in the major French food markets such as Rungis, Cavaillon, Lyon, Chateaurenard, and Lomme."
For more information:
Silvia Magliocco
P.A.S.A.M. Citrus fruits
Soc. Coop. Agricola a r.l.
Agricultural Producers
Syracuse Associated Magliocco
+39 0931 1965420
[email protected]
www.pasamagrumi.it