Domenico Bosco is the marketing manager for F.lli Valcalcer from Battipaglia. The company is specialised in baby leaf produce, grown in the fertile land of the Piana del Sele – a place particularly suited for the farming of this produce.
He states, “Our motivation and will to improve pushed us to opt for the restyling of both the logo and the packaging as well as for updating the catalogue, the website and the social channel. As an Italian company, we will not neglect the national market and at the same time we will not forget the foreign markets where we are already active – especially Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, UK and the Czech Republic”.
The production
All the F.lli Valcalcer’s produce is farmed in greenhouses. “We can count on almost 100 ‘covered’ hectares: we have rocket, red and green lettuce, spinach, red chard and bull’s blood, just to mention a few. Also, we work a lot with baby leaf produce in bulk with different packaging. They are mainly shipped to Northern Europe markets where it is impossible to farm this produce because of the adverse climate”.
Furthermore, the company offers the Trocadero, Green Lollo, Red, Oak Leaf and kohlrabi to the German markets. “Thanks to seasonal produce – such as yellow and red pepper, aubergine and watermelon – we make good volumes”.
Processing the wild salad
“The wild salad arrives raw in tanks in the warehouse. Previously, the produce has undergone a careful selection during the harvesting. Then, the raw produce is placed on workbenches and, according to the quantity to pack and depending on the chosen ingredients, the operators mix it. Finally, it undergoes a further check before being weighted and then packaged.
“We are marketing increasing volumes with this new packaging, and the demand is constantly growing. The ingredients of our wild salads are all farmed by our farming company. We also give to the customer the possibility to choose the ingredients for her wild salad mix. Oftentimes, preferences change according to the place, especially here in Europe”.
The formats currently available are: trays of different weights, from 75 gr and 500 gr to 1 kg. “By the end of 2018, we will also have bags of different weights, thanks to the purchase of a new line”.
Reference markets
The produce is mainly destined to the MMRs’ national and international markets. In the last period though, the company has been selling its products through the HoReCa channel, and good results are already showing up.
Bosco explains, “With regard to the prices, as we all know, the ‘price battle’ has always been a thing. Fortunately, the MMR is shifting the attention on the quality of the produce. Therefore, it is selling our products for the right prices”.
The restyling
“We have been looking for a modern logo and packaging. They needed to be captivating and recognisable so that the name of the company would be connected to the owner family. In this way, the brand would stand out in the MMRs channels, both nationally and internationally”.
Bosco concludes, “We are in the process of updating our catalogue and website as well as the main social channels with live posts about the production processes. In this way, we can show everything, starting from the sowing, the harvesting to the packaging. Therefore, the customers are very much aware of the quality of our produce”.
This innovation programme inevitably changes the company’s goals thus anticipating a growth. Therefore, the company is looking forward to an increase in production while keeping in mind its philosophy: the quality of the produce.
Info:
Domenico Bosco - responsabile vendite
Email: domenico@fratellivalcalcer.it
F.lli Valcalcer S.r.l. Società Agricola
S.P. 135 Loc. Spineta, 94
84091 Battipaglia (SA)
Tel./Fax: +39 (0)828 62 46 53
Email: info@fratellivalcalcer.it
Web: www.fratellivalcalcer.it