Felice Petrillo reports on the vegetable campaign at Aop Luce

"The dark-colored zucchini campaign peaked in late January at Aop Luce, when the Sicilian production started to slow down and the low temperatures affected supplies. We registered good demand at high prices. The start of the year was the opposite of what is happening now: sales are regular but with low prices, also because we have to deal with competition from other European countries, especially Spain," reports Felice Petrillo, president of Aop Luce.

Left to right: Francesco Ruscitto, Leone D’Onofrio, Felice Petrillo, Salvatore Chinappi

Dark-colored zucchini are among the leading products for the company, so much so that they are grown and commercialized all year round thanks to greenhouse and open field productions. Harvesting of the produce in open fields will begin in May. 

"The round zucchini campaign started in February and is now in full swing. Sales are regular with average prices and quantities. Quality is excellent. Harvesting should end in late May. As for light-colored zucchini, the situation has stabilized after the lack of produce in December which led to high quotations. The trend is now regular and in line with 2022 when it comes to both sales and prices." 

Zucchini flowers are also available 12 months a year, sold in 100 gram packets.

The lettuce campaign at Aop Luce is coming to an end. "Prices were low with export difficulties since mid-December due to the mild weather which caused overproduction and overlaps between the production areas. Then, however, starting from the second part of January, the production of lettuce in northern Europe slowed down as the temperatures dropped, creating favorable conditions for our exports. Prices increased and maintained stable until today, with a market that has been able to absorb the produce. We think we will be able to reach the end of April, though only handling small quantities."

Another product grown and commercialized by Aop Luce is agretti, which are becoming more and more popular on a national level. 300 gram packets are even easier to sell because the produce is already partially cleaned and ready to be washed and cooked.

"The agretti campaign started in mid-January with a regular trend except for one week in early February when sales slowed down." 

The cucumber campaign started around ten days ago, while the green tomato campaign will start in May, followed by cherry tomatoes and other tomato types from the Fondi-Sperlonga plain in mid-May.