Italy: As counter-season ends, national small fruit campaign begins

In Winter, the Sant'Orsola Cooperative, a leading company producing and selling small fruit like strawberries or late cherries, handles around 1,000 tonnes of foreign produce, in contrast with the 5,000 of Italian origin. Planned purchases of foreign produce are also a way to push the sale of small Italian fruits, completing the range supplied by the Cooperative.

"The Winter campaign of small fruits runs between November and May, but the schedule changes according to the product. Blueberries are generally bought between November and May, blackberries are imported between November and April, whereas redcurrants are imported between March and May and raspberries are bought between December and mid-April. We are also carrying on with raspberry production experiments in Sicily and Calabria with new varieties as well, in order to meet the needs of the market and supply Italian produce also between April and December."

As regards origins, highbush blueberries come from Argentina, Chile and Spain, blackberries come from Mexico, redcurrants from Chile and raspberries from Mexico and Spain.

Start of the national campaign
"The national campaign started a few days ago with raspberries and blackberries coming from our partners in Southern Italy. In June, all of the products of our partners will be available on the market. Strawberries and wild strawberries are two Italian products that are available the whole year round," adds Giacomelli.

"Demand for small fruits is always good and prices are in line with those of 2012," explains the sales manager, who then adds: "At the moment, we are investing on packaging in order to improve the appeal of these products. We have to remember that, in the case of small fruits, we are talking about impulse buys."

The Drosophila suzukii problem
The Drosophila suzukii, the spotted-wing fly, affected small fruits less in 2012 thanks to biological control e.g. mass trapping, a food trap which uses a combination of vinegar and wine and which has provided good results so far.

The insect is dangerous nonetheless, and that's why Sant'Orsola has activated a project, in collaboration with the Mach Foundation, Apot and the Trento Province, in order to find out a way to limit its population.

Finally, Lorenzo Giacomelli explains the investments the cooperative is making in stores, with new branded fridges: "This strategy aims at promoting the products in stores. We carried out a test in 2012 with a big mass retailing chain, and we placed branded fridges in 10 stores in Tuscany and Lazio. Results were good both in terms of sale and in terms of an extended shelf-life." 

Sant'Orsola Soc. Coop. Agricola
Lorenzo Giacomelli
Via Lagorai 131
38057 Pergine Valsugana (TN)
Tel.: (+39) 0461 518111
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.santorsola.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoopSantOrsola