Grape season in Italy is in full swing: Apofruit shares its observations from the orchards

Italy

Tuesday 14 September 2021

Marcello Guidi and Romina Kamel, export sales department of Apofruit at Macfrut

Apofruit is one of the biggest cooperatives in Italy with more than 3500 producers of kiwi, stone fruit, grapes, apples, and vegetables. Up to 30% of its production is organic and the figure is increasing every year.

Romina Kamel and Marcello Guidi, export sales department of Apofruit, have shared their observations regarding the following fruit season in Italy.

“Now, at the end of the season, we have apricots, peaches, nectarines, and at week 37 we'll start with Angeleno plums.”, says Guidi.

“Besides, we are in the middle of the grape season which is one of the most important fruits for us. We offer only seedless grapes, such as Timpson, Sugar Crisp, Allison, Scarlotta, Midnight Beauty, among others. The season started with 10-12 days of delay compared to the previous one. August was complicated in terms of volumes and pressure of the market, due to competition between Italian, Spanish and Greek producers. But we have a good option in the next months, both for white and red grapes.”, continues the export manager.

Apple season has also already started with the Gala variety. Soon Apofruit will start with Granny Smith. According to Guidi, for Pink lady the forecast is lower than normal, it is projected to reduce by -20% in volume, compared to previous years due to winter frosts.

“Kiwi season will start in October with Greenlight, but as for Hayward I would say, same volumes as last year. With

pears there are more difficulties due to frosts. We have lost big volumes and we will have to fight to maintain our position in the market.", commented Guidi.

According to Romina Kamel, Apofruit faces huge logistic complications overseas due to the Covid situation. The costs for the containers rose by 30-40% in certain regions, because many of them have been stuck in China.

“In the UK, it is difficult to find trucks, and they don’t come back to Europe. Covid situation there is very strange, people are not working, and consumption is low.”, explains Kamel.

“In regards to the current trends, we observe that customers are requesting more carton packaging, compostable films, Germany and the UK in particular. But they also require certifications to have the traceability of the product, plus for the packaging, which is the main issue.”, concluded the export manager.

For more information about Apofruit, see the website