Analysis of the winter fruit season
"Granfrutta Zani: "Kiwifruits meet high expectations of producers"
The 2013 production should be about the same as last year, that is around 11,000 tons, as the decline in the Emilia- Romagna region is compensated by new plantings of kiwifruit which came into production in the area of Latina (Lazio).
“70% of our kiwi is exported to the European Union, Eastern Europe, where we’re affected by the Greek competition and overseas where, apart from the local product, at the moment we’re don't face much competition. The remaining 30% goes to the domestic market,” concludes Raffaele Bucella.
"We completed the sale of our classic persimmon. It’s been a quite satisfactory campaign form a financial point of view, also due to lower quantities of products available. In effect, the recurring rains during harvest time have resulted in higher rates of discarded fruit, not adequate to be sold and, compared to an average production of 1200 tonnes, this year the amount reached just 1000 tonnes, that is 15-20% less," explains Bucella.
90% of persimmon Granfrutta Zani is consumed on the domestic market - the preferential trade channel is the large-scale distribuition (GDO), for the main products - while the remaining 10% is sent mostly to Switzerland.
"As for the pears - continues Bucella - expectations were high and unfortunately the market is not responding as expected. Export is very limited compared to last year. Even on the domestic market, consumption is very low. Therefore, compared to 2012, we recorded a higher production but, at the same time, fewer sales.”
"With a production of 5-6000 tons of pears per year - explains Bucella - Granfrutta Zani is not intended as a supplier to foreign countries, where in terms of price, the competition of the Conference from the Netherlands and the Portuguese Rocha is stronger. Up to a few days ago, even France was still on the market with part of its production of William pears. In Europe, however, due to a different culture – and even because of our lack of communication, our Abate pear is penalized.”
The company also sells Pink Lady apples, produced on farms in Romagna, and Golden and Stark apples grown in associated companies located in Friuli. The Pink Lady apples are exported within Europe (Germany, the Scandinavian countries and the UK) while the Golden and Stark apples, produced in the initial phase of the campaign and before the apples from Trentino come along, are sold mainly to the domestic market.
"We sold a lot at the beginning of the campaign, then things became calm here too. Prices also fell to 0.05-0.10 euro/kg last month," reports Bucella, indicating medium and small sizes, also for the pear, that have created additional problems in markets that, like the national one, are more interested in bigger sizes.
At the moment, the product that is in line with the high expectations of the producers is kiwifruit. "The marketing of kiwi – confirms Bucella - is going well and we are optimistic at the moment, thanks to a good demand coming from overseas, particularly from the American continent, from South America, but also from China, India and Arab countries."
Contacts:
OP Granfrutta Zani
Raffaele Bucella
Via Monte Sant'Andrea
48018 Granarolo Faentino (RA)
Tel.: (+39) 0546 695211
Fax: (+39) 0546 41775
Email: buc@granfruttazani.it
Web: www.granfruttazani.it