Artichokes in Italy are priced high and selling slow

According to consumers and traders, Italian artichokes are expensive this year. High prices are discouraging buyers as households tend to save more.

Ermanno Barletta of Biemme Srl, a company in the province of Lecce that supplies fruit and vegetables to wholesale markets, comments on the current artichoke campaign. "At the moment, wholesale prices range from €0.50 to 55 euros per unit for good quality processed products. When it comes to retail, you have to take into account a price increase of about +0.20-0.25 €/head. In the countryside, on the other hand, people are paying around €0.40/artichoke, compared to €0.20 last year."

The price increase is due to weather-related difficulties faced by farmers, in addition to rising production costs.

The artichoke season at Biemme Srl started on October 18th, about a month late due to the mild autumn weather. "The availability of artichokes continues to be scarce, but the quality of the pieces is better than it was at the beginning of the year", says the operator.

"For now, the temperature is good for growth, but we are concerned about sudden and abrupt changes in temperature, which has already happened in the last ten days of November. We are seeing a 25 percent drop in consumption compared to last year. This is mainly due to the high retail prices. In fact, the high prices are changing the spending habits of families, who now consider fruits and vegetables as luxury goods not always affordable."