First limited-edition avocados from Apulia sold out

A little more than 10 tons (compared to the 2 of 2023) seems to be an insignificant quantity, but it is still the minimal amount needed to carry out a first and actual commercialization of Italian avocados, after the sample boxes sent free of charge to domestic customers last year. Pomegranate grower Masseria Fruttirossi, based in Apulia, is now finalizing its remaining avocado shipments.

Harvesting operations

Davide De Lisi (pictured on the right), from the company's plant in Castellaneta, in the province of Taranto, says: "We sold all the available produce in a few days. The fruit was harvested in the second half of December and was then stored in a cell to allow it to ripen. As soon as we offered our customers the opportunity to stock avocados that had been grown in Puglia, they responded very quickly. There was so much interest that we had to do a back-order. The decision to plant avocados turned out to be a good one. We decided to plant the first 20 hectares of Hass and Ettinger in 2019, followed by another 20 hectares in May 2022."

The prices, at €3.80 - 4 per kilogram, are similar to those of the imported product, allowing the Apulian company to develop a competitive edge. "At the moment we are cultivating 20 hectares," adds De Lisi. "It will take a few more years for us to reach the full production capacity. We are prioritizing the growth of the trees as they are still very young. Our expectation is that next season we will have a doubling of the crop.”

Masseria Fruttirossi has reserved part of the harvest to carry out internal tests and to select the raw material for the HPP (High Pressure Processing) treatment. "The idea is to soon launch ready-to-use trays with avocado sauce or diced/sliced avocados. This is a process that we carry out in our plant."