The company are about to end the courgette season, while the Zodiac variety of watermelon had just started.
Click here to see the photo report.
Being a seaside area, production is about one month earlier than the usual calendar.
One of the partners of the cooperative, Stefano Bellato (in the picture), says, "30% of our production is aimed to export. This percentage increases with radish, particularly demanded in Germany and East European countries. Prices have fallen this year. Courgette, for example, is 15-20% cheaper than in 2011. For this reason, management of costs is a priority for fruit and vegetable companies."
In order to face this problem, the cooperative decided to invest in new technology and processing automation, adopted in 2009, the electronic grading UNI_VERS by UNITEC, is suitable for the selection of different kinds of products, such as: tomatoes, courgette, peppers, aubergines.
"Thanks to this grading - Bellato reports - we cut down packaging costs and we speeded up production output. UNI_VERS by UNITEC selects quickly and efficiently, vegetables according to their size and colour, allowing homogenous packed products."
Click here to see the photo report.
"Moreover, automation allowed us to hire less qualified (and so less expensive) staff in the operation of selection and packaging because UNI_VERS does everything by itself!".
Click here to see the photo report.
According to Stefano Bellato, there is a very good relationship with UNITEC, "A strong point of a company is its ability to adapt itself to the changeable market requirements. Thanks to a non-stop relationship with UNITEC staff, we can modify the machine according to customers' needs. For example, we are looking for a solution to cut the courgette stalk mechanically."
Contacts:
Coop. Op SOTEA
Via della Molella, 41
04017 San Felice Circeo (LT)
Phone: (+39) 0773 597558
Fax: (+39) 0773 597467
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.soteacoop.com
Unitec
Raffaele Benedetti
Phone: (+39) 0545 288884
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.unitec-group.com
Click Play to see some videos about UNITEC machine at Coop. Sotea: