Italy's Almaverde Bio harvested 3,300 tons of green kiwis and 2,900 tons of yellow kiwis. "Due to the weather conditions, the quantities are slightly below a normal year. However, this is compensated by an average grading and an excellent Brix value," said Paolo Pari, director of Almaverde Bio.
On Tuesday 5 December, Almaverde Bio opened the doors of its packing station in Longiano, in the province of Forli-Cesena. Journalists were given a tour and information about the storage cells and sorting machines.
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The visit to the packing station was organized as part of It's Bio (It's good healthy and natural Bio Fruit&Veg), a pan-European project aimed at promoting organic farming in Italy, Belgium and Greece by emphasizing the healthy nature of the products and the environmental sustainability of the farming. In the last two years, the It's Bio project has held workshops in shops, on farms and in a packing plant.
The promoter of the project is Aop Gruppo Vi.Va., an association of 12 producer organizations from almost all Italian regions. Together they cover an area of about 23,000 hectares, of which 15,000 are dedicated to fruit and just over 8,000 to vegetables.
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Paolo Pari
"This year we expect more stability in terms of organic fruit and vegetable yields and a slight increase in sales," says Paolo Pari, director of Almaverde Bio. "Our sales are through our Almaverde Bio display aisles in supermarkets. We are very satisfied with these. Thanks mainly to the presence in several new stores during the year, we achieved a 32% growth at the end of October."
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"Direct communication is an essential part of a project such as this one. The aim is to highlight the specificities and benefits of high-quality organic products. The It's Bio project is doing just that by reaching out directly to consumers in the shops and to other stakeholders through visits to farms and packing stations.”
When it comes to kiwi production, Italy is the leading country in Europe, with a volume of about 410,000 tons, compared to the continent's total yield of 755,000 tons (source: Iko - International Kiwi Organization). The largest growing regions are Lazio with 33% of the area, followed by Piedmont with 17% and Emilia-Romagna with 15% (source: Cso Italy).
For more information:
Canova srl
Via Emilia Levante, 2750
47020 Longiano (FC)
Ufficio commerciale mercato nazionale
+39 0547 53019
Ufficio commerciale export
+39 0547 57541
www.almaverdebio.it