The harvest of early clementines for Fruit Alba, a cooperative of Corigliano Rossano, in the province of Cosenza, started a few days ago. The sales manager, Francesco Spataro, outlined a picture of the 2021/22 year. "We can expect great quality, accompanied by a drop in production. The April frosts have penalized the earlier harvests. It is still too early to draw up a precise estimate, but we can forecast a 30% drop in production.
Francesco and Giuseppe Spataro
Unlike last year, the sizes are larger, but "it should not be forgotten that the organoleptic quality is also excellent for the smaller fruits and, for this reason, we do our utmost to enhance these as well".
Fruit Alba's philosophy is to harvest only at the right time of ripeness, avoiding early cuts that would compromise sensory quality. "Waiting for the best period, with the right °Brix to have very good clementines, is our modus operandi".
The cooperative is present in all the main wholesale markets in Italy, in the large-scale retail trade, and it exports throughout Europe, including Germany, Poland and Eastern Europe, and to Switzerland, amongst others.
This year there is a major innovation for Fruit Alba. The new facility opened a few months ago. It is much bigger than the previous one, almost three times as big, and more functional in terms of its various processing stages. The new plant is located in the Sibari Plain and is surrounded by extremely valuable citrus groves.
The new facility, surrounded by citrus groves
"This year not only not only did we manage to find a building that meets our needs and our corporate philosophy, but we were also very lucky, because no matter where we look around, we can see citrus trees and, therefore, we are also completely immersed in a real sense in our greatest passion."
Fruit Alba Soc. Coop. Agricola is a cooperative society that has now been renowned for years for its dynamic nature, innovation and use of the best cultivation techniques that, in compliance with regulations, determine the best conditions for obtaining a high-quality product.
"We monitor our products since the very beginning. We have diversified our crops according to the different characteristics of the soil and the microclimate. We take care of our products day by day and nature rewards us with citrus fruits of excellent quality that we harvest gently and process with great care so that they do not undergo many handling operations and remain fresh and fragrant,” concluded the brothers Spataro.
For more information:
Fruit Alba Soc. Coop. Agricola
Lago di Balaton,
87064 Corigliano Calabro (CS)
+39 0983 851276
info@fruitalba.com
www.fruitalba.com