The strawberry campaign started over one month ago in Basilicata, but the Christmas period is the first lively moment to test the market as the festivities might give producers a preview of the season. FreshPlaza has talked about it with Francesco Nicodemo, sales office coordinator at Gruppo Nicofruit.
Nicofruit-branded crate
"Demand triples at Christmastime compared to November and prices increase by as much as 20%. The year seems interesting so far. The produce that we are harvesting now is at most 15% of the entire regional production and it is the early varieties us producers are still assessing to extend the campaign as best as we can. The peak remains from February onwards."
Francesco Nicodemo
"Quantities are limited at the moment and the harvesting frequency is slow, but we will still try to meet all demands, maybe rationalizing outgoing volumes. The weather is of fundamental importance, as the mild sunny days expected over the next few days might enable us to increase the volumes and ship a few pallets more. We are not as worried that the economic crisis might hinder the sale of strawberries at the moment, mainly because strawberries from Basilicata are a well-established brand, even stronger than the current economic uncertainty."
"The conditions are all there for the region to maintain a leading position when it comes to strawberry cultivation, provided that the companies keep focusing on flavor and shelf life even though management costs have doubled."
Processing line
As regards the current crisis and whether it has modified company programs, the manager says that "we like countertrends, so we have envisaged a 10% increase in cultivated hectares compared with the previous season. I believe that, in times of great difficulty, things might worsen, but they might even improve if faced in the right way and with the right spirit."
For further information:
Frutthera Soc. Coop. Agr.
Via Provinciale, 15
75020 Scanzano Jonico, MT
(+39) 0835 954666
[email protected]
nicofruit.it