Many shifts in Italian grape landscape

Jan Prinsen recently visited the grape region in Italy, and wondered whether seedless grapes would win out over the flavoursome Italian grapes with seeds, such as the Italia. He also examined the shifts taking place in Italy, when it comes to switching from grapes with seeds to seedless.

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Consumer has to be given opportunity
Prinsen found that a number of fruit specialists are not selling Italia grapes. "The reason for that is that their customers prefer seedless grapes. I also found out that Albert Heijn in Belgium doesn't stock grapes with seeds." He advises to keep selling both anyway. "When it comes to flavour, nothing beats the lovely, delicate muscat flavour of the Italia grapes. Consumers have to be given the opportunity to get to know and eat both varieties. That will likely cause consumption to increase in the Netherlands and Belgium." You can't stop this development, however. "That certain supermarkets aren't selling grapes with seeds, will also accelerate this evolution."

Growers making switch
To view things from the Italian side, Jan got the opportunity, thanks to agent Angelo Savino, to visit the plantations of the Di Donna firm from Rutigliano, a specialist in seedless grapes. "This family business with a long history in grapes, has been one of the frontrunners in development of seedless grapes. Their company practically made a complete switch to seedless grapes. Together with their representative, Mrs Angela Jorio, we were able to visit their beautiful plantation in San Vito dei Normanni, near Brindisi. This plantation had an acreage of over 90 hectares of seedless grapes, with various varieties."

Strong advance
"Eight varieties are already completely ready, and will thus be sold. They were also hard at work on new varieties. We were also able to taste different varieties, and I was surprised by the good flavour. For me it's clear that seedless grapes are advancing strongly in that respect."

"The plantation itself was beautifully maintained, and we also saw all the work that goes into bringing quality to the market. The grape clusters have to be regularly cared for intensively, it requires a lot of attention and time." The family business is testing 30 new varieties in total, and wants to expand further in the future when it comes to seedless grapes. "The coming years, they're expecting to sell the seedless grapes increasingly by cluster, which will accelerate the evolution even further. This is already the case with the Crimson, I think. Packaging the grapes didn't occur in the field, but in the packing station in Rutigliano. Around 90% is packaged there, in plastic trays of 500 grammes."

Di Donna packaged

New varieties
His conclusion is: "We are seeing a strong growth of seedless grapes in Europe. This isn't new, but the coming years we'll also see bulk sales, something that was difficult up to now, because the seedless ones weren't firmly attached to the stalk. I've seen varieties at several growers, that I'd never seen before, shape- and colour-wise. I saw eight varieties of seedless grapes. We think it's high time for all seedless grapes to be sold under their own name, because there are huge differences in flavour between varieties. It was truly informative to see this change and evolution in the production of seedless grapes."

He concludes: "Perhaps next year we'll have to take a look there with a group of fruit and veg professionals. I would like to be the guide, if there's enough interest. If you are reading this and want to find our more, you can always contact us. Please also take a moment to enjoy the photos we were able and allowed to take while there."

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Jan Prinsen
www.belgianfreshfoodinstitute.be
belgian.fresh.food.institute@gmail.com