"Italy: "The kiwi campaign is looking good"

"We started harvesting kiwis in the Romagna region on 27th October 2014. We do not approve of early harvesting, in fact we waited for fruit to be completely ripe, so the quality and shelf-life would be ideal. The weather helped us, as nights were cold and days were sunny and dry, thus increasing Brix levels and dry matter content and making harvesting operations easier," explains Cristian Moretti, director of Agrintesa.

"After two years of scarce yields, this year quantities are looking normal and with good grades, shapes and colour. We are expecting to reach 45,000 tons between the green and golden varieties."

"We are now getting ready to ship the first quantities overseas, which are attracting a lot of interest especially due to the lack of produce from Chile and New Zealand. If you consider that there are still 6-7 months to go and the quantities that are expected in Europe, the campaign is looking good."

"A lot will depend on the Italian distributors ability to promote the produce, manage quantities and work a system. And of course deal with the pressure from Greek producers."

Overseas markets seem to be the most promising at the moment - especially China, Asian countries, Brazil, United States and Canada.

Contacts
Agrintesa
Via G. Galilei, 15
Faenza (RA)
Tel.: (+39) 0546 619111
Fax: (+39) 0546 621270
Email: moretti.cristian@agrintesa.com
Web: www.agrintesa.com