Almost all of the production is organic.
Nicola potatoes.
Antonio Fricano, chairman of the Sicilian Apo Sicilia Consortium explains that, at the moment, the Consortium has the Nicola and Spunta varieties available, although there are also some Everest and Arinda potatoes. "A fair amount of tubers is available, the campaign is in full swing and still prices have not gone down because of the demand. This is because there are no stocks and of course new potatoes that are harvested at the moment are really sought after."
The main part is shipped abroad in particular in France and Germany, and also in Denmark. "In Italy, people still tend to consume 'old' potatoes, i.e. those harvested in 2012, which cost less."
Spunta potatoes.
Even if the campaign started late, the weather was excellent, cool and with no rain, so there were no production problems, quite the opposite actually, as the product benefited from it. AOP Sicilia will continue harvesting potatoes until 10th-15th June.
Lemons
"At the moment, there are some Primofiore lemons remaining, the price of which was very low during the campaign. We are now starting with the Bianchetto variety, though we don't have much produce because the yield was scarce. In the meantime, prices have more than doubled and demand is high despite the lack of produce. Demand from abroad increased the most, probably because of the lack of produce from Spain."
Bianchetto lemons.
As regards sale prices DDU Northern Italy, Bianchetto lemons hover around €1.10-1.20, whereas the price of Primofiore is of about €0.90.
The Bianchetto campaign will end in a month's time and the Verdello one will start, even though yields are expected to be scarce.
Contacts:
Antonio Fricano - Chairman
OP Consorzio APO SICILIA
Bagheria (PA)
Tel.: (+39) 091 902000
Email: [email protected]
Below: Bianchetto lemons.
