The Sicilian vegetable campaign is proceeding along the specialized coastal area that produces Italian excellencies in greenhouses.
The leading product at the moment is the Sweet Palermo bell pepper, whose harvesting operations have started at OP Platinum in Ragusa, one of the few companies part of the Rijk Zwaan "Club" authorized to produce them.
FreshPlaza has talked about it with Salvatore Astuto, sales manager of the PO, who described a slight delay in the harvesting calendar which though "has not affected quality."
"We have been ready for a few days with the harvesting of yellow, red and chocolate Sweet Palermo bell peppers. A wealth of colors that accompanies a wonderful flavor and a surprisingly high digestibility, absence of seeds and very thin peel. We were the first to believe in this variety, investing out time and resources in it around 4 years ago." 
"Sweet Palermo has always been appreciated by consumers because it returned the possibility of enjoying peppers without digestion problems to many people of all ages. For this reason, we are convinced these peppers will replace good part of the traditional bell peppers currently available. We want to promote Sweet Palermo in the best big retail chain stores all over Italy. RZ is supporting us during this campaign with promotional activities on national televisions and through specialized formats."
But how are vegetables doing? "Quotations have been stable over the past few weeks for all products, bell peppers included. But Sweet Palermo, being a club variety, does not comply with normal quotations. As for other products, we can report the average quotations of red peppers: €2.50/kg for cherry tomatoes, €2.80/kg for plum tomatoes, €2.50/kg for midi plums. Dark green zucchini reach €2.00/kg and eggplants €2.00/kg. The low temperatures of the past few weeks delayed harvesting operations and, among the other problems, the low availability has led to price increases. In addition, the costs sustained are due to a general increase in production inputs which, for some materials in particular such as fertilizers and pesticides, have literally skyrocketed. What is more, we have to deal with the difficulties caused by the ToBRFV".
For further information:
Salvatore Astuto
O.P. Platinum Soc. Coop. Agr.
C.da Piombo, s.n.
97100 Ragusa - Italy
+39 339 4191445
[email protected]
www.opplatinum.it
