The Common clementine campaign is drawing to a close and, for Fruit Alba, a cooperative from Corigliano Rossano in the province of Cosenza (Italy), it is time for a first assessment. "Our production and processing techniques are now so well developed that we have been able to produce clementines of excellent quality. Our fruit will be available on the market until the end of January,” explained sales manager Francesco Spataro.
The good quality of the product did not come about by chance and, above all, was not without obstacles along the way. Suffice it to say that production costs have risen and it has been difficult to find and maintain labour.
"Our ability to organize has enabled us to optimize our staff. This has meant that, even with a few less staff, we have been able to conclude the citrus season without too much trouble. Our new structure has certainly been beneficial because we have much more space and also more cells, so we have been able to put in place a better organization.”
Fruit Alba's new operations centre is much bigger than the previous one, almost three times as big, and more functional for the various processing stages. The new plant is located in the Piana di Sibari in Calabria and is surrounded by citrus groves of great value.
The company's philosophy is also to plan the harvest and processing in the best possible way. "Once again this year, we have been able to choose the right time to harvest and process the product, to the extent that we have had practically no returns.
But as one campaign draws to a close, the next is just around the corner. "We are now busy wrapping up this citrus season which has given us some satisfying results for the Common clementine, but we are already preparing for the late produce," concluded Spataro.
For more information:
Fruit Alba Soc. Coop. Agricola
Lago di Balaton,
87064 Corigliano Calabro (CS)
+39 0983 851276
info@fruitalba.com
www.fruitalba.com