GDO increasingly attention to organic citrus

Lemon is the emblem of organic citrus fruit and plays a towing effect on the sector. Antonio Fricano is sure about that. He’s the president of Bia , an agricultural consortium of organic fruit and vegetable producers born in 2011 and which today has 11 member companies. Among these there is Aposicilia , a Sicilian reality led by Fricano himself and specialized in citrus production.

But to analyze the current citrus campaign it is necessary to make a distinction between lemons, oranges and mandarins, because the three products have decidedly different trends.

“The campaign is generally positive – saied Fricano – about lemons, after an amazing decade with rising prices, we could see a stabilization. An attenuation that is found at European level, also because the Spain has more volumes and this has helped to level the prices. In Italy, where organic consumption started from lower levels, the increase in sales and sales continued Gdo is giving attention to the product. On the other hand, the lemon is the organic citrus par excellence, the ambassador of bio , has a value that I would call homeopathic: maybe we do not realize it but we use it in all its parts, from peel to juice, in the most disparate consumption occasions. A thing that has no equal in fruit and vegetables. With lemons we can work for eleven months a year, from October to August, with different varieties and, of course, different quantities available, but we can guarantee a constant supplying”.

Chapter Oranges and here, especially for red ones, there is good news. “The falling production and the high demand from the Scandinavian countries to go down, keep the market alive – Bia’s president resumes – as well as the new commercial spaces that could open in China. The scenarios, compared to the past, are definitely more promising. The quality, then, in this campaign is not lacking and this is an extra weapon for us producers “.

About mandarins, however, there are critical issues. “It’s a disaster in Sicily – Fricano admits – due to weather conditions. Instead there are good prospects for the late. We have good signals from the Nova, an Apirene product between Mandarin and Clementine, which above all overseas has requested “.

The organic citrus production is also explained on Bia Consortium web site , recently online. “ Bia was born from a group of producers who want to expose themselves, to say our opinion, to defend their productions without intermediaries – highlights the president – the goal is to enter new markets that are attentive to ethics and transparency of supplying chain. That’s why we have a long work of sharing behind us that we put at the service of our partners. For example, the regulation and our guidelines are published on our portal, because we have nothing to hide and we believe in pure transparency. Our site wants to communicate just that, explaining in the first place to the operators of large retailers that this is a added value: in addition to organoleptic quality, aesthetics, certifications, supply chain paths, we also play the transparency card “.

A strategy that is working. “Bia is growing at double figures, an important growth that derives from an upstream work that is bearing fruit – underlines Fricano – In these years we managed to group specialized producers with adequate volumes to supply the GDO and we are launching a line fresh fruit and salad ready with brand “Solidale Italiano” of Altromercato.

The Bia Consortium next week will be, for the first time, at FruitLogistica (Hall 4.2 – Stand C / 07).