Some of the countries not included in the Russian ban are getting organised to integrate their supply with produce imported by sanctioned nations and labelling it as their own. It's the case of Turkey, which seems to be purchasing Greek table grapes to re-sell it as made in Turkey.
"This time of year, supply mainly comes from Spain, Italy and Greece, so I don't see how Italy could buy produce form abroad and re-sell it (without re-labelling it). At the same time, I'm not sure it will work if countries that never produced grapes started exporting it all of a sudden."
Vittoria grapes.
The Italian table grapes campaign has already started and the harvesting of Vittoria grapes is over. Now it's the turn of Italia. "I believe that the situation will become extremely difficult from mid-September. The only positive thing is that produce from Apulia won't be particularly abundant. Unfortunately, Russia absorbed almost half of our grapes! The Red Globe variety in particular was almost entirely destined to the Russian market as it is not very popular in Europe."
Red Globe grapes.
The citrus situation is just as tragic. "The crisis might hit between mid-October and November as Spanish suppliers who used to export to Russia will look towards Italy to sell their clementines and oranges."
In the meantime, many Italian exporters are considering whether to take part in the next edition of World Food Moscow. According to Giacomo Suglia, many will only take part as visitors to safeguard the relationships with their clients.
As regards the alternative market question, he says that "last year, we were exporting towards Egypt and Libya too, but the political situation over there means it is not possible to trade normally. Other potential markets are the US and China, although there are no phitosanitary agreements yet. I really don't see any alternative in the short-term. What is more, I am afraid that, if the situation gets worse, Russia could limit its gas supply, which would be a disaster for us. We should have made Italy more autonomous from an energetic point of view."
As regards Community and domestic measures to help producers, Giacomo Suglia says that "it is disconcerting seeing how they are not at all prepared. They don't even have the right tools and answers to deal with the situation."