The consumption of exotic fruit in Italy has been constantly increasing over the past few years, especially when it comes to bananas, pineapples, limes, mangoes, papayas and passion fruit. FreshPlaza talked to agribusiness expert Giorgio Mancuso to understand whether operators have been able to meet the demands of the increasingly demanding market.
Giorgio Mancuso
"Each product must be analyzed differently. I have never dealt with bananas, which are a very complex segment, so I am not commenting on those. As for pineapples, they are a typical product used for desserts in restaurant and consumption at home is also increasing. Over the past few years, fruits ripened in plantations of a yellow color, sweet flavor and low acidity have become available. A Spanish company has even started cultivating its own plantations in Costa Rica to produce fruits harvested exclusively at the perfect ripening stage to ship them all over Europe. Now almost all the other producers are trying to obtain fruits with a good color to follow consumer trends."
"The consumption of avocados is also growing. The fruit was introduced to Italy around the 1960s but has grown only recently. According to FAO, the global avocado production has more than doubled since 1993. Over the same period, US demand has tripled, so much so that the average American eats around 3.4 kg of avocados a year. In Italy, consumption went from the 3,600 tons of 2007 to the over 13,000 of 2016 (+261%). Considering that Italians eat just 300 grams each, it is clear how there is room to grow."
Avocados
"I remember that, when I was managing the entire Israeli production in Italy in 1996, our objective was to reach 1,000 tons a year, which seemed very hard. Then there were the products from South Africa and Spain (very little at the time) for 1,500 tons in total. But the figure jumped to 13,000 tons already in 2016. Yet they are still rare and not everyone knows when to eat them or how to distinguish the varieties."
"The latest trend goes towards the Hass variety, with its typical dark color. What is truly important, is to know when it is the right time to eat an avocado. It might be too hard or black inside due to it being overripe. Consumers are often disoriented and, after a few not-very-cheap mishaps, they abandon the product."
"Mangoes are very popular too, but the difference between those arriving by sea and those by air is truly noticeable. The former are often barely edible, fibrous (Tommy variety) and rarely ripe. Kent mangoes arriving by air are sublime, they melt in the mouth. Of course costs are different and the latter risks arriving in store overripe if it is not managed well. The production from Sicily is destined to grow."
Mangoes
"The attempts we carried out a few years ago to introduce papayas by sea have failed. I think no one dares shipping by sea any more, as the fruit always arrives in dreadful condition. Papayas are a very difficult product and my advice is to eat them where they are produced even though, at times, it is possible to find a few good fruits on our markets, especially of the Formosa variety. Limes must also be eaten well ripe and the light-colored fruits are the juicier ones. Those from Brazil and lately even from Colombia often arrive with the perfect color. The market however is still not ready and continues preferring dark green fruits, maybe of Mexican origin."
Papayas
"Over the past few years, the production of exotic fruit has grown in Italy as well, especially when it comes to mangoes (August to October), avocados (November to April) and limes (August to October) but also passion fruit, papayas, litchi and finger limes. Crops are located mainly in Sicily and consumers tend to be well-disposed towards the domestic produce, which is considered fresher and with a lower environmental impact."