At the moment, cherry tomatoes, red bunch tomatoes, greenhouse piccadilly tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes and peppers are available from Vike.
"60% of our crops are made up of tomatoes. The early campaign, i.e. the one concerning the July transplants, will end before the end of October. September and October transplants will start towards the end of December, with a long campaign that will end in June 2014."
This is the explanation of Giuseppe Di Martino, sales manager for Vike, a company born in January 2011 from the merger of a cooperative and a company with 20 years experience in the productive and commercial sector. The company deals mainly with fresh produce, and at the moment supplies around 10,000 tons per year.
At the moment, products come from:
- greenhouses in the Ragusa area for fruit and vegetables, with 8 hectares owned by Vike and 10 hectares by partner farms;
- the Catania area table grapes, with 3 hectares owned by the company and 15 hectares by partner farms;
- the Etna area for citrus fruit.
"During the productive cycle, there were anomalies both in summer and in the past couple of weeks (September and October 2013) because of yellow spots, wrinkling and cracking on cherry, bunch and piccadilly tomatoes due to the hot temperatures. Greenhouse crops under plastic films were affected the most, whereas the produce under netting is not as bad. The weather had its effects, as in greenhouses temperatures reached 60°C during the day and dropped to 15°C at night with high humidity levels."
The quality and type of products is medium-high and high, and they are sold on markets with high targets.
"In August and September 2013 the demand for produce was lower in general, whereas in the first week of October it seems it is recovering, with a 40% increase. I think that this is due to the lack of produce, because the summer campaign is ending and we will have to wait until December to have sufficient quantities of superior quality produce."
As Giuseppe said, in August and September the average price of cherry tomatoes was €0.40 at origin, €0.25 for bunch tomatoes and €0.60 for piccadilly tomatoes. The price of aubergines and courgettes was €0.35 and that of peppers was €0.70.
"Our markets are those we have always had, that is to say Germany and Denmark abroad, in addition to the Italian markets. No new destinations are planned and, considering the crisis, we have to consider ourselves lucky that we can keep the clients we have. We supply retailers and discount stores in Italy and abroad. We can even redistribute produce directly in the stores upon request."
Vike sells its products under different brands, both in Italian and in the language of the country of arrival. Packaging and storing is carried out in a 25,000 sq m plant, 5,000 of which is covered. The covered area is divided into:
- 2,400 sq m of a processing and storing warehouse;
- 80 sq m of offices;
- 2,000 sq m of a warehouse to store equipment and empty packaging.
Packaging
Cherry, date and piccadilly tomatoes are packed in 500 or 1,000 trays, in 3, 5 or 6 kg cardboard crates and loose in wooden or plastic crates. Long tomatoes (Lancillotto, green or red San Marzano, Ovetto) are put in 1,000 g trays and in cardboard, wooden or plastic crates.
Peppers (yellow, green and red), aubergines (long, round and purple) and cucumbers are sold in wooden, cardboard or plastic crates. Courgettes (green and white) are placed in 1,000 g trays with covers, flowpacks or in cardboard, wooden or plastic crates.
Table grapes (Italia, Vittoria and Red Globes) are packed in 1,000 g trays, whereas bins and cardboard boxes are used for watermelons and melons.
"Demand in general dropped by 20% with respect to the same period last year, especially in Germany, whereas it is stable in the Eastern European countries. Demand in the domestic market dropped by 40%. There is usually a tougher competition at a national level at this time of year, as
Veneto, Campania, Lazio and Piedmont are in full production."
So far, Vike has not been able to access financial help from Europe or Italy: "Credit institutions do not support us. In addition, we have had to deal with competition from other countries and nobody does anything to contain it, while in the meantime taxes increase. I think many companies have the same problem. People do not earn enough money and do not spend it, they only buy what is essential. Fruit and vegetables should be considered essential too, though!"
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"Our company is investing in new varieties of cherry and bunch tomatoes for a product with a long shelf-life and high Brix levels. We are still experimenting though. In addition, we have diversified our offer, including processed products, for example cherry tomato sauce, which is made using the same ingredients of the Sicilian tradition. We also produce tomato puree, dried crushed tomatoes and tomato extract."
Vike has four processing lines on which 50 operators work in compliance with current health and safety regulations. It also complies with the HACCP quality standards and it has the GlobalGAP certification (GGN: 4050373869960) and a traceability plan.
For further info:
Giuseppe Di Martino - sales manager
Mobile no.: (+39) 333 3165038
Vike soc. agr. Srl
C.da Palazzello, sn.
97019 Vittoria (RG)
Tel.: (+39) 932 868585
Fax: (+39) 932 511493
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.vikesrl.com
