"The production difficulties caused by the weather and lack of labor are two key elements that characterized 2023. In the Veneto region, the situation in not unlike that found all over Italy," explains Stefano Pezzo, president of Fruitimprese Veneto, during the Christmas dinner held at Castello di Bevilacqua (Verona) on December 14, 2023.
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"Some crops have excellent perspectives but are limited by the lack of labor. I'm talking for example about berries. Some of our associates do have the skills and resources to make considerable investments, but have to deal with the lack of labor. And I don't just mean skilled labor, but rather people, even without experience, who want to work in agriculture."
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This problem does not only occur when it's time for harvesting, but it affects all operations throughout the year. "Even cherries suffered in 2023. Apples are more stable, but our companies are generally finding it very hard to overcome problems."
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Fruitimprese director Pietro Mauro also intervened. "The association was founded in 1949, so next year we will celebrate the 75th anniversary. We have some regional centers like in Alto Adige, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Puglia, Sicily. Fruitimprese gathers around 300 companies for an average turnover of €30 million. Exports amount to €2 billion in total, while the total turnover exceeds €8 billion."
The 300 members include around 20 thousand businesses and collect approximately 6 million tons, 10% of which is apples, followed by bananas (500 thousand tons), grapes and kiwifruit (400 thousand tons each), pears, oranges and peaches-nectarines.
"The produce comes mainly from Emilia Romagna (16%), Puglia (14%) and the Veneto (13%) followed by the other regions."
As for the quantities sold, exports represent 31% with a third of the produce sent to Germany, while 35% is divided between many other countries. Other representative countries are France (8.4%) and Austria (6.6%).
Fruitimprese consultant Gualtiero Roveda, Marco Dallamano and Paolo Merci, respectively president and director of VeronaMercato (the facility where Fruitimprese Veneto is located) also attended the event.
Representatives from the Verona and Vicenza Bcc, Giorgio Giacomazzi and Nicola Giavoni illustrated the solutions the bank can offer entrepreneurs through its Agribusiness division.