The market for organic vegetables grows in terms of marketed volumes, but on the price front the gap with the conventional product tends to decrease more and more. “A trend that has become more pronounced in the last two years and is a big problem, given that the production costs of bio are much higher”, observes Gianfranco Cunzolo, president of the Agroviva cooperative of Acate (Ragusa), a company born in 1998, 25 members and 40 hectares of greenhouse crops plus another forty in the open field.

“We have to understand why this occurs, let’s take the date at the Vittoria Market – continues the entrepreneur – In this period the kilo is exchanged for 1.80 euros for the conventional, and organic costs just a few cents more. Hopefully it will be a only momentary tendency “.

Agroviva – which is part of the consortium of Bia organic producers – is in the period of full production for the bunch tomato, it is then working with the cherry tomato and still limited volumes of date. “The market is not excellent – explains the president of the Sicilian cooperative – I don’t know if it is the effect of coronavirus psychosis, but there is a drop in the level of required volumes and prices. January and February are traditionally decreasing months for the tomato, the hope is that from March the market will become more sparkling “.

Also because on the qualitative front there are good signs. “The production stands on satisfactory volumes and the collections for the next few days will be excellent – continues Cunzolo – There have been no significant temperature fluctuations, we have never gone below zero and the plants have not suffered major losses: we therefore think we have a campaign positive, with quality and quantity “.

The Acate cooperative produces tomatoes 12 months a year and markets its products in Italian and foreign large-scale distribution, especially France and Germany. And with the Bia Consortium, it is working to increase its presence in large-scale distribution.

“This year we are witnessing a recovery in the cherry tomato market, while the investments of North Africa and Spain have concentrated on the date tomatoes: the volumes placed on the market have increased a lot and from a high-level product we are going to massify – he photographs so the situation the president of Agroviva – The demand for the bunch is slightly waning, but has a stable overall market. The colored varieties remain a niche product: we register an increase in requests, but these vary from one campaign to another and c there is little programming.

From tomatoes and vegetables to the exotic Sicilian. Agroviva is experimenting with new crops. “We have included the passion fruit, which we have been marketing for two years: the request is not lacking and this campaign will help us to evaluate the actual economic feasibility of the project. We started to harvest in July and we are still continuing, we have the opportunity to produce almost all year round. We also have a mango greenhouse in an experimental phase: on an agronomic level it is a world to be discovered, now we have to understand how the plant reacts in our protected cultivation areas “.

The relationship with the Bia Consortium, Gianfranco Cunzolo concludes, is getting closer. “We try to grow together – he underlines – Of course the consortium has to clash with other platforms that have been on the market for a longer time, but it enhances the producer and the territory, eliminates intermediate steps and this is an added value for both the producer and the consumer. The latter – concludes the president – receives a product in a more direct way, to the full advantage of quality “.

Tuesday 3 March 2020

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