You now can grow small fruits all over the world

This year many events took place in a digital setting, including the Global Berry Congress. The Italian Molari Berries & Breeding also attended the special event. "It is interesting to see how, despite the pandemic, the sector was able to keep up with a remarkable trend. Consumers' lifestyles have changed drastically in only a few months, yet we are thrilled to see that our segment has barely experienced any problems," said Matteo Molari.

Matteo and Luca Molari

According to Matteo, there are two main trends. "Genetic improvement is mainly aimed at overseas countries or emerging countries where until a few years ago it was almost impossible to grow raspberries, as an example. With the help of innovative technologies, it is now possible to achieve excellent results with this crop, which means that raspberries are available on the shelves 12 months a year. The second trend involves sustainability. We finally begin to realize that environmental protection is of fundamental importance. There are now many players in the sector who are paying close attention to it".

On the commercial front, Molari has achieved good results this year. In Spain, the goals have been exceeded by changing the commercial strategy. Also in Italy, these goals have been achieved and overachieved. Blueberries have increased in sales over the last few months and new markets are interested in this crop.

"We are very satisfied with the results of this year and the blackberries and blueberries will continue to thrive in 2021. For this reason our technician Alessandro Gualando is already actively working to introduce fresh ideas on the Italian market next year. And again, this year we have also introduced exclusive license agreements for the Prime-Ark 45, Natchez and Ouachita blackberry varieties and the MegasBlue and Titanium blueberry varieties".

New advanced selection of raspberries

Luca Molari is mainly engaged in research, which is an important business unit. "In recent months, we have taken major steps towards internationalization and we are currently working on a number of projects on an international scale. We can announce that some tests for our new selection package have been carried out in Europe and we hope to receive interesting feedback in the upcoming year. While here in Cesena we have embarked on a new phase of applied research that is helping us to better monitor the properties of our crops, by comparing them with the results of tests around the world".

"The key elements moving forward are passion, enthusiasm and quality. We try to engage with our customers with a consulting approach and maintain contact with all those involved in the supply chain. We look forward to the coming year with confidence, despite the emergency situation. We have recently started the spring cultivation of raspberries. This is the moment, also for our customers, to start planning for the next season as well as the possibly can," concluded Matteo.