"Requests have been flooding in, especially over the past 10 days. Countries like Poland, Hungary and France are asking us for large volumes of clementines. Many operators are calling us eager to receive our product, but we are often unable to fully guarantee quantities, because we are unable to grade and package the fruits for all customers in time," reports Daniele Martucci of Martucci Srl, a company that deals with the processing and marketing of citrus fruits and which works with five local clementine growers, plus another 20 small farms.
Daniele Martucci
Martucci adds that, "at the moment, we are able to ship a maximum of 40 pallets a day. The shift starts at 6 a.m. with 24 employees. It is difficult to find new staff to extend the shifts. Our main customers, to whom we send three pallets per week each, include the Polish companies Figiel of Krakow and Karo of Katowice."
Daily departures
The climate seems favourable, with an adequate temperature range between day and night. The negative note remain the sizes, as this year most of the produce is size III and IV.
Processing of clementines
"Foreign buyers are especially aware of the smaller-than-expected sizes generated by the hot, dry weather. Nonetheless, consumption is holding up. We do an extremely painstaking job, selecting suitable fruits in terms of ripeness and appearance. If we went faster, we could easily reach two articulated lorries per day and satisfy more demand. We only hope that it will not rain incessantly in the coming weeks."
For more information:
Martucci Srl
Via Chiatona,
74016 Massafra (TA) - Italy
+39 338 2620262
[email protected]
martucci.info