Report on GrapePassion in Rutigliano (Bari, Italy)
Italy: Table grapes deserve more attention
The event "GrapePassion" took place on 12th April 2012, organized by the city hall of Rutigliano (Bari, Italy). Despite the title table grapes were only partially the protagonist of the night.
At the start of the event a large delegation of Gruppi di Azione Locale (GAL) and farms discussed for two hours the "short supply chain and direct sales", wandering off the main point of the event.
Speakers of the session "Gal in Tour"
Afterwards, there were several opinions about how to promote the so-called "direct sales" of food farming products. They also said typical local products should be everywhere (farmer’s markets, restaurants, hotel, private and public canteens, fair trade, e-commerce, e-commerce, supermarkets, etc.), the only fact is that this "chain" represents only 5% of the Apulian farming economics. It is surprising it filled up 50% of a meeting that was supposed to be entirely about table grapes.
Greetings by the mayor of Rutigliano, Roberto Romagno
After 7 o’clock p.m. they got straight to the point thanks to the brilliant speech of David Hughes, professor emeritus of Food Marketing at the Imperial College in London, invited for the event by Fresh Plaza.
Professor David Hughes teaches at the Imperial College in London. Behind him, Rossella Gigli, news editor of Fresh Plaza Italia and moderator of the conference.
Starting from same general considerations (demographic trend, ageing of population in Western countries, boom of emerging economies), Prof. Hughes warned about the flattening of table grapes as some simply nameless "commodity", above all in a context where consumer trends of fruit and vegetables are undermined by the trade of juices, shakes, packed salads and many other ready-to-eat products.
Fruit to drink. What do mothers put in their children’s school bags? A fruit or a shake?
The analysis about the success of strawberries and small fruits in the British market, explained how make a fruit and vegetable product desirable, appealing and even "sensual".
Eat me
Table grapes in comparison with strawberries attract a minor consumer range since it is shown as a flat, dull dish.
Weekly sale trend of small fruits in the British market (red line), against the sale of table grapes (blue line). Period 2008-2011.
The growth by two digits in British consumption of strawberries and small fruits is also due to the committee of all the producers of this sector called "British Summer Fruits" that invest €1 million per year in marketing.
British Summer Fruits’ website
This investment turns into an income of €25 million, this shows that advertising is still the soul of business!
Prof. David Hughes
Italy, a country universally appreciated for its good and tasty food, seems to keep the "secret" of its grapes, since no foreign consumers connect this product to Italy. Thus, there is a lot to do to bring Apulian grapes all over the world.
There are many commercial topics to support table grapes. It is healthy and natural food, without additives, which contributes to one of the five recommended daily portion of fruit and vegetables. It is convenient and children like it. It lasts quite a long time and it is for a wide range of consumers. You need to tell consumers the story of this product and not make them think about its sugar content!
The intervention of Prof. Hughes called the attention of the public in the room, which had been quiet till that moment.
Public interested in the intervention of Prof. Hughes
Interesting interventions of other speakers invited to the event by FreshPlaza were penalized for the late hours. Giuseppe Sicuro, table grape technician at Apofruit showed a report called "Innovation about table grape variety according to the consumer demand", which explained that new cultivations have to been done taking into account producers, distributors and consumers’ needs.
Giuseppe Sicuro, table grape technician at Apofruit
Sicuro showed in detail the main characteristics of seedless varieties of white, red and black grapes Apofruit has been working on in the last few years thanks to the contractual non-exclusive exploitation right with some of the main international breeders (such as Sun World, Shenaan Genetics, International Fruit Genetics and others).
Conclusion of Giuseppe Sicuro’s intervention. Slide:
- Market requires seedless grapes and quality;
- In the next few years several innovations in variety will be available: the new varieties must be introduced carefully, only after the right evaluations;
- Tested variety and new forms of commercialization are an opportunity to support the income;
- Aggregations are desirable to manage better innovation.
In his intervention "Aggregation and innovation: instruments for the economic growth of table grape farming", Antonio Mastropirro, agricultural agent at Agriproject Group, started with the drop in the price of table grapes to underline the productive chain must be reorganized quickly and it must be connected to the commercialization.
Antonio Mastropirro, agricultural agent at Agriproject Group
The comparison between the percentage of aggregation in Apulian agriculture and other Italian regions explains why Apulia gets less Community funds aimed to big projects even though the regions they take place in are smaller.
Agricultural gross marketable production in Apulia is still out of the CMO is 79% whereas in Trentino Alto Adige it is 0%.
Mastropirro reminded listeners that the competitive element is innovation, but for that you need to "start again from the beginning". The production system must take into account many different variables.
NUTRITION, IRRIGATION, PRUNING, PLANT, VARIETY, MANAGEMENT OF THE GROUND, PLASTIC FILMS. The complex interaction among the variables when we talk about productive processes.
Last but not the least was the intervention of the doctor Pierfederico La Notte from the Institute of Virology of Plants of CNR in Bari. He showed a report called "Old traditional varieties: a reality to appreciate".
Pierfederico La Notte of CNR.
He gave an excursus on the Apulian aboriginal cultivations, among them Baresana, la Pizzutella o la Mennavacca. They represent a sort of rediscovery for both gene pool and alternative income for the producers in the area.
The prize "Silver Bunch – City of Rutigliano" of the 14th edition was awarded to Gruppo Norba (Telenorba e Radionorba) because "it represents an important instrument of growth for Southern economy by means of the promotions in its TV and Radio stations on national and European scale".
In the picture below Luca Montrone, president of Gruppo Norba, while he is receiving the prize "Silver Bunch - City of Rutigliano” from the city mayor, Roberto Romagno.