On the first weekend of October, a festival dedicated to the prickly pear took place in San Cono, in the province of Catania, Sicily. It has now reached its XXXVI edition, with three days full of events and exhibition spaces, and since 1984 it has been celebrating the Bastardone variety, a typical San Cono exotic fruit derived from the so-called scozzolatura, a special cultivation technique where the first flowers are cut in order to stimulate a second blooming in order to obtain larger and better-quality fruits.
"The production of the San Cono Prickly Pear has always been around, albeit not on a large scale. Since the 1970s the areas have increased, along with high specialized production techniques. Over the years, the prickly pear industry has become an important economic activity of the area, to the point that the city is now called the Capital of Prickly Pears. In terms of production, the problem this time around, compared to the past, is climate change, which causes worry even if it is a drought-resistant plant," said Cono Seggio, owner of Seggio Fruit.
In photo Luigi Seggio and Cono Seggio
Seggio Fruit is a historical Sicilian company specializing mainly in the marketing of prickly pears. The generational turnover has led the company to enter foreign markets. The summer fruits, that include prickly pears, grapes and apricots, are obtained from production areas on about 300 hectares of land located in areas close to Mount Etna volcano. The farmlands are located in San Cono, in the province of Catania (Italy), the production area of Ficodindia di San Cono DOP-Protected Designation of Origin referring to the fresh fruit, freed from thorns, of the species Opunzia Ficus Indica, in the varieties Surfarina, Sanguigna and Muscaredda.
"Over the years, promotional activities and research," explained Cono Seggio, "have made it possible for the most food/health-conscious consumers to also appreciate the goodness of a fruit that is healthy and of which nothing is thrown away, from the flowers to the cladodes. Customers increasingly appreciate this extraordinary fruit both for its tasty, crisp and firm flesh and for its excellent health benefits, because of its vitamins and minerals in which it is so rich."
Seggio Fruit's processing lines
Seggio Fruit Srl supplies about 3,000 tons of Prickly Pear fruit to the markets, including Agostani (which are not derived from the scozzolatura technique) and Bastardoni (derived from first flower scozzolatura) varieties. The fruits are processed in a large 3,000-square-meter plant, where they are stripped of their thorns and gauged within 24 hours of harvesting, so that they are ready for the market.
The fruit is therefore widely used-both as a fresh product and as a processed product (juices, pate, jam) or as an ingredient for artisanal confectionery products in the ice cream and pastry sectors. In the long term, and with a view to innovation, the company is considering allocating part of its production to the derivatives segment, where there is growing interest in juices. In short, this is a supply chain that has ample room for growth and is looking to the future as well as changes in eating habits.
"In terms of production, we aim to reach the markets well in advance with our greenhouse productions, with a view to obtaining high-quality early ripening productions. I am of the opinion that doing quality is the only way to counter the competition, because a natural fruit that is good for your health and is also beautiful to see certainly holds no threat on the markets," concluded the entrepreneur.
The company sells its products in agri-food markets and major distribution platforms in Italy and abroad including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Britain, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Austria and Sweden.
For more information:
Seggio Cono
Seggio Fruit Srl
C/da Albanese snc
95040 San Cono (CT)
+39 0933 970532
+39 327 348 6303
[email protected]
www.seggiofruit.com
