Sicilian organic carrots turnover increases by 25 percent

Who said that to succeed in the agricultural sector, one has to sacrifice the quality of one's working life? A shining example of a worker-friendly company is Natura Iblea, which in 2024 was again awarded the prestigious "Welfare Index Pmi". This is an annual ranking that measures the quality of working life in the company. Getting this award is not an isolated case. It was the seventh year in a row.

Federica Giadone (above) and her brother, Andrea (below), received the prestigious award in Rome on June 13, 2024.

Natura Iblea also promotes a healthy lifestyle by supporting a sports association, such as the team of runners of all ages who recently completed the "Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon" in Norway. This is one of the 24 European countries where Natura Iblea exports its Sicilian baby carrots, along with Switzerland and Serbia, to name but a few.

(Tromsø) - The Coop Norway stand, where the runners of the Natura Iblea team were welcomed

"All this is possible thanks to the solidity of our company", says company president Roberto Giadone, "which, as a specialist in organic and Demeter crops, has once again had an excellent campaign, even with a new record in terms of volumes marketed, mainly abroad. In fact, this season we have reached as many as 8 million packs (in 1 kg bags), distributed all over the continent, or almost!"

"But it hasn't all been easy," says the entrepreneur. "Production has been severely affected by the prolonged drought in Sicily, and we have had to defend ourselves by resorting to frequent emergency irrigation. This has led to higher production costs for the energy needed to pump water from the wells. The critical situation has been exacerbated since March and April, but fortunately the various international large-scale retailers have recognized our difficulties and have increased the remuneration by an average of 25 percent in order to guarantee the best quality standards of our product. This is a gesture of trust that we have not ignored.

"Obviously, this momentum is not accidental," says Giadone, "but the result of a relationship of mutual collaboration, based on fairness and quality guarantees that we offer with each delivery. For several years now, we have been working on contractual agreements with the major international distributors in the autumn of each year. We work according to fixed schedules and offer reliable solutions, regardless of the commercial dynamics of the market. This year also went better than expected, and we are fully satisfied with our work, as shown by the appreciation we received from Coop Norway on the occasion of the marathon in which we participated with a team of local amateur athletes, which we supported financially."

"No matter how successful a company may be, it cannot remain static," the manager states. "It must constantly evolve and improve, even if this does not always mean more profit. This is why we continue to invest in development models that are sustainable and improve product quality. In fact, we have allocated significant resources to the expansion of a photovoltaic plant, amounting to 1.4 million euros, as well as an additional 400 thousand euros for the expansion of processing lines and refrigerated cells. We are sure that these investments will pay off for us in terms of precision in the manufacturing processes, without burdening the environment and with some improvement for our workers as well."