Michele De Lisi is the administrator of Masseira Fruttirossi, the large agri-food plant located in Puglia, near Taranto. He observed, “In Italy, the current pomegranate season has been characterised by adverse climatic conditions which prevented producers to reach the qualitative and quantitative levels they have been used to. However, our location in Puglia – which is renowned for having favourable climatic conditions – allowed us to have more reassuring results”.
The Masseria Fruttirossi’s Lome Super Fruit branded products are a guarantee for the end-consumers, to the point that the company have been literally submerged by orders, in the last months.
The manager continued, “As usual, there was a glut during November which resulted inevitably in unstable prices caused by the offer fragmentation. However, now the situation is really improving: there are fewer volumes available on the market and the demand is increasing – especially because of the Christmas holidays when people much appreciate pomegranates, both in Italy and abroad”.
“Thanks to the great storing capacity of our technologically advanced fridge cells, Masseria Fruttirossi is able to market Italian pomegranates for a longer period”.
The company farm 250 hectares with pomegranates, and it can boast having a very short supply chain as both the processing and preservation plants are within the same area. De Lisi explained, “In this way, the agronomic management, the preservation, the packaging and the processing phases are controlled internally thus achieving both production uniformity and high qualitative standards. Also, our produce is completely traceable in order to inform and protect the end-consumer”.
The pomegranate juices productive and marketing cycles will benefit from the innovative HPP (High-Pressure Processing) treatment. This allows keeping the excellent characteristics of the juices as if they were home-made but with a shelf-life longer than 60 days. Aside from this novel process, the company will also market the classic product: pasteurised NFC juices, 100 % pomegranate, with no added sugar.
De Lisi highlighted, “We focused on the Italian market and we found out that there is no ‘pure’ 100 % pomegranate juices. There are products and HPP juices with pomegranates, but they also have other ingredients. Because of this, Masseria Massoni is the only ‘specialised’ company for this product, in Italy”.
Pomegranates are renowned for their nutraceutical characteristics. They are one of the most demanded products by the contemporary consumer, who is increasingly aware of her health and a good nutrition. “Thanks to the presence of punicalagin and ellagic acid, our juice has a brilliant anti-age effect, it can reduce the cholesterol and the blood pressure. Also, researches are demonstrating the anti-cancer properties of pomegranates. Through our products, we want to give to our customers the possibility to have a healthy natural break”.
De Lisi concluded, “As of the end of the year, we are extremely satisfied by the sales – with 1.200 tons of fresh produce thus far. We are proud to have achieved this amazing agricultural and agro-industrial project. Our fresh produce is delivered from our plants directly to the different markets and MMRs’ platforms (Conad, Lidl, Apulia-Simply, Tosano, Iperlando, GDA Spa and foreign chains such as Grain Frais)”.
Info:
Masseria Fruttirossi - Lome Super Fruit
C.da Terzo Dieci snc
74011 Castellaneta - Taranto - Italy
Tel: (+39) 099 9647688
Email: info@lomesuperfruit.com
Web: lomesuperfruit.com