“The fair season continues and, after Cibus, we attended Vinitaly to promote our productions expression of culture, identity and tradition. Our leading product continues to be Bergamot oranges. We sell them fresh, processed as juice or mixed in functional products. They are in fact one of the ingredients of our Amaro Cardus, a spirit that has recently won gold at the World Spirits Award 2022," reports Fabio Trunfio, owner and sales manager at Azienda agricola Patea.
In the photo, Fabio Trunfio promoting Patea products at Cibus Parma 2023
The Italian Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida at the Agricola Patea stand at Vinitaly trying some Amaro Cardus
Agricola Patea, which is located Brancaleone (RC), traditionally specializes in the processing of essential oils and extracts, which it promotes also to relaunch Bergamot oranges from Reggio Calabria also by obtaining to the PGI mark. In addition to the fresh produce, it also commercializes a wide range of processed products, including juices, jam, spirits, liqueurs and candied fruit. It constantly carries out promotional activities to make consumers aware of the countless properties of the fruit at international level.
Cardus is born from a 40-day infusion of healthy local products: Wild thistle, Blueberries and the exquisite peel of Bergamot oranges. A mix of healthy ingredients that also conquers the palate of connoisseurs with a 28% alcohol strength.
"The experts from the sector have told us it reminds them of the old after-dinner liqueurs, when the flavor of the sugar and alcohol were not predominant. It is a pleasant liqueur, which also works well as an ingredient for aperitifs and cocktails. It's nice paired off with typical almond sweets, ice-cream and the famous truffles from Pizzo. Cardus is available in 50, 70 and 100 cl bottles and is in demand abroad as well. An extraordinary market success that led to the sale of 80 thousand bottles in just six months despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic.
“When it comes to consumption, the market is recovering after a few difficult years. Even if the energy crisis is over (although the cost of energy remains triple that of 2020), the cost of glass keeps increasing and we are also finding it difficult to source it. As for production, we are focusing on relaunching and safeguarding the fresh market, as the produce is threatened by counterfeits. We hope that the official procedure we started in 2021, which involves 200 companies covering 520 hectares in total, will come to an end soon. Other companies keep joining us thanks to the website www.bergamia.org, which aims at providing updates on the project to relaunch the production area."
Patea commercializes around 30% of fresh Bergamot oranges via the big retail chain, and the rest is sold to specialized stores as processed products. The production derives from 100 hectares and the fruits are sold via various commercial channels. Processed products are more profitable than the fresh produce both in Italy and abroad.
Contacts:
Azienda Agricola Patea
Contrada Caldara s.n.
89036 Brancaleone (RC) - Italy
Cell.: (+39) 338 6311477
Email: info@essenzabergamotto.com
Web: www.essenzabergamotto.com