The yellow melon season has finally started with a delay of over 20 days. Usually demand booms in September however, due to the sudden heat wave and the limited supply of fruit in general, it is already very lively.
"The abnormal weather is affecting production and commercialization. Due to the abundant rain in May, we were forced to delay open-field transplants by at least 20 days. Luckily there were no diseases or plant problems," reports Angelo Condoluci, who manages Azienda agricola Unifruit Condoluci 1960 di Bernalda (Matera), which entered the market in 2010 with its own brand Rillo and is a partner of Op Altamura.
"We started harvesting the produce in greenhouses on June 23. Last year we had started in late May/early June. We will start with the produce in the open fields in early July. There is little produce from Sicily on the market, meaning supply is low. Prices at origin are very high.".
Weather permitting, the yellow melon campaign should continue until well into October.
"We are expecting quantities in July to be low compared with previous years and have already started exporting mainly to Germany and northern European countries such as Denmark. Demand is very high and, even if we do not manage it completely, we try to meet at least part of the requests of our clients. While the focus used to be on domestic markets, we have started exporting more over the past two years and feedback is good," stresses sales manager Valentina Matera. .
"Almost the entire network of foreign clients demands medium-small grades. Southern Italy also demands larger fruits but, in general, we are focusing on producing the most popular grades, as consumption of large melons is dropping."
"Our produce is washed, sanitized, brushed and dried. An automatic grader helps meet the requests of our clients and every melon is labelled as Rillo," explains Condoluci
Matera adds that "we work with the IFCO, CPR, Polymer, Europool circuits and we are capable of meeting all specific packaging, packing and palletization needs. In addition, this year we moved to a new 2,000 sq m warehouse that boasts more space for the processing line. Our melons are shipped from here."
For further information:
Azienda agricola Unifruit Condoluci 1960
Strada Statale 106 Jonica, km 448
75012 Bernalda (MT) - Italy
+39 0835741213
unifruitgroup@gmail.com
unifruitgroup.it
Op Altamura
via Pacinotti
Pontecagnano Faiano (SA) - Italy
info@opaltamura.com
www.opaltamura.com