According to the producer, this increase is due to the favourable weather and to the good yield/profitability ratio recorded during the previous campaign. In addition, the good prices of the 2012/13 French table potato campaign pushed many to invest.
Despite this interest from producers, there are still unsolved problems concerning post-harvesting."Yields per hectare are great, but profitability is low as consumers are not very keen on the loose produce."
"Northern markets are difficult to conquer because there are other productions and, in addition, the seed variety is not suitable for processing and packaging as yields are not very uniform." According to the producer though, growers are not really willing to switch to newer varieties, even though they would be more welcome by retailers and easier to process.
French potatoes rule Sicily
"At the moment, only small quantities of local new potatoes from Syracuse are available. Produce from Tunisia was not welcomed that well because of the lack of demand when the supplies arrived at the end of February 2014."
Despite the fact that Sicilian consumers do not buy potatoes from Tunisia though, the domestic production is still affected by French potatoes as their prices are very competitive and they are now ruling the market"
"Our company sells and distributes around 2,000 tons of Italian Colomba and Agata potatoes, as well as 300 tons of French potatoes between March and the end of June."
"Our company sells and distributes around 2,000 tons of Italian Colomba and Agata potatoes, as well as 300 tons of French potatoes between March and the end of June."
"The markets of Trapani and Agrigento are not doing very well because of the popularity of retailers, which tend to buy supplies from platforms that are in other regions. This in turn means that the only locals are street vendors and small shops and supermarkets. The only way to tackle the problem would be to convince buyers to buy local."
Contacts
Gerlando Burgio
Ditta Gerlando Burgio
Email: gerlando.burgio@libero.it