As reported by the CEO, the first effects on Costa Rican pineapples could be noticed already in 2015. "Productive capacity decreased and it was impossible to plant anything during the rainier periods, so the 2016 harvest will also be affected."
For what concerns bananas, "in Ecuador, El Niño is causing abnormally abundant precipitations, while Colombia is facing a drought. In both cases, the situation has led to a significantly reduced productivity."
Ecuador supplies fewer bananas
For what concerns the bananas and pineapples sold under the F.lli Orsero brand, pineapple supplies come only from Costa Rica, while bananas come from Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. "Lately, however, we are focusing mainly on the first two producer countries."
Over the past few years, bananas sold in Italy come mainly from Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and African countries. "Recently, new producer countries like Mexico have entered the market but, at the moment, they produce too little to become strong competitors."
The F.lli Orsero brand was launched in 2012 and, since then, the group's distributive capacity and marketing investments led to a constant increase in volumes distributed under the brand. In 2015, banana volumes reached 50,000 tons/year, improving the results of the previous year.
For what concerns pineapples, the decrease in volumes led to a decreased availability of Extra Premium fruit and therefore to fewer imported volumes.
"We can still say the market is stable, as the lack of produce was counterbalanced by an increase of the prices, which remained above the 2014 average. In addition, consumers continue to enjoy the fruit, as the brand obtains the Premium Price of the Italian market."
Destination markets
The F.lli Orsero brand is distributed mainly on the European markets. It can also be found on the US, Korean and Singapore markets thanks to new partners. "In the future, we would like to approach new markets such as for example Turkey."
The brand organises in store tastings with gadget distribution and promoter-assisted sales.
"In addition, the staff gives information as regards the chain, storage, cutting and presentation techniques and hands out mini recipe books to enjoy F.lli Orsero products in a creative way. The aim is to make customers enjoy the Extra Premium quality of our fruit so they can come back to our products in the future."
Banana and pineapple demand
Bananas and pineapples are available throughout the year.
Pineapples are very popular during the festivities and therefore demand increases at Christmas and Easter.
Banana consumption increases during the first semester and drastically diminishes in summer only to increase again in September when school starts.
Alessandro Canalella concludes by saying that "pineapple consumption is influenced by product availability and price. In the mid-1990s, thanks to the introduction of the MD2 "Extra sweet" variety, consumption of the fresh product increased considerably and has stabilised in the past 2/3 years."
Contacts:
Simba S.p.a.
Tel.: +39 018 2560800
Fax: +39 018 2560950
