Orders of Italian vegetables are average, but prices were expected to be higher considering that a lot of produce has been lacking due to the cold weather. FreshPlaza talked with Claudio D'Alba from Plantis Group, a company from Puglia that exports fruit and vegetables to many European countries, for an update of the trend abroad.
"We are currently shipping good volumes of brassicas (especially cauliflowers and broccoli), fennel, dill, parsley, bunching onions and tomatoes. One semi-trailer leaves every week destined to Scandinavia, the Baltic countries and Germany. It may seem weird, but quantities are actually higher than during Christmas. However, I believe this liveliness is only temporary as it is due to a general lack of produce caused by the cold temperatures. Some production areas abroad also registered problems due to the frost and snow, therefore European buyers have gotten in touch more with Italian companies to have continuous supplies."
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The weather remains a considerable unknown factor. "We have gone from the spring-like temperatures of the end of the year, which hastened ripening (causing surpluses), to a 10-15°C temperature drop that led to 20% price hikes. Fennel, for example, is registering very low quotations and little interest on the market. The higher prices however still do not cover production, packaging and transport costs entirely. We need a balance, especially when talking about low-income and long degradability products."
After a two-year absence due to the Covid-19 emergency, Plantis Group will attend Berlin once again. "The German fair is always a meeting opportunity for all operators. A moment to compare views, especially during a difficult period such as this one. For this edition, the mission is to establish sturdy relations with German and French traders to increase our sales in the respective countries. We ended 2022 with a 25% growth on the previous year despite all the negativity of the past 12 months."
Plantis Group will welcome you at Fruit Logistica, Hall 6.2 - Stand B-34. In addition to Claudio D'Alba, Lenka Brostikova (sales manager for Eastern Europe and Baltic countries), Agnese Andrzejczyk (sales manager for Poland and Central Europe) and Christian Rossi (Sales manager for Scandinavia) will also attend.
For further information:
Plantis Group
Piazza Ebalia 1
74123 Taranto
(+39) 99 4521842
[email protected]
www.plantis.it