"A few weeks ago, we presented our lemons in 1 kg nets with our personalized band. The objective is to retain those customers who, over the years, have strayed from the netted produce. This happened because most suppliers use nets to commercialize low-quality lemons with a ruined peel and mostly obtained from delayed blossoming, which are therefore not very juicy. The challenge is to sell seedless lemons with the same juice percentage found in larger grades," explain Andrea and Giovanni Pezzino di Geronimo, owners of Il Limone del Barone.
The company is located in Carlentini (Siracusa). Citrus fruits, and lemons of the seedless Femminello variety in particular, are grown on 70 hectares. The company holds the GlobalGAP and Grasp certifications and inaugurates the 2019/20 campaign with the fruit from the new orchards, currently in full production.
Femminello, also known as Limone di Siracusa, is characterized by three seasonal blossomings with production periods and ripening phases between October and April (Primofiore), May and June (Bianchetto) and June and September (Verdello).
"As known, the 2019/20 Sicilian lemon campaign is characterized by a lack of large grades. We tested the juice yield of our small lemons and the result is that the juice obtained by squeezing 1 kg net is approximately 500 ml."
Il Limone del Barone fruits are excellent and small grades also produce good juice quantities. This is the concept that the company shared with its clients to communicate to final consumers that the netted produce has nothing to envy to the loose produce.
Fruits are processed in the 2500 sq m company facility, which has been recently equipped with grading and packing lines. Nonetheless, most of the production, especially leafed lemons, needs to be processed by hand.
In addition to 1 kg nets, we have 30x40 double-layer wooden and cardboard nets, 1 or 2 layer basket boxes and priced solutions that also have a barcode.
The produce is shipped in units with no imperfections that have homogeneous grades and a high percentage of leaves with a deep green color. 70% of the produce is exported (mainly to France) and the rest is destined to Italian retail and wholesale chains.
"We have just presented our new label, where the brand has a big visual impact. It depicts an eternal spring of blossoming lemon groves where small purplish flowers appear among the yellow lemons and green leaves. This is exactly what we currently see as we walk in our groves, as the high temperatures over the past four years - the highest ever since 1800 - have led to out-of-season blossoming."
Contacts:
Azienda Agricola Sperone
Il Limone del Barone
Contrada Sperone
96013 Carlentini (SR) - Italy
Cell.: (+39) 349 3553990
Email:info@illimonedelbarone.it
Website: www.illimonedelbarone.it