For Princes Industrie Alimentari, (PIA - the company that manages
one of the largest processing and processing tomato plants in Europe) it is time to take stock, but also to plan future activities. With this in mind, the management met with its agricultural partners at its headquarters in Foggia (Apulia, Italy) to discuss the following points: the 2022 tomato campaign budget; annual awards and acknowledgements for the results obtained during the campaign; and the shared guidelines for the 2023 season, amidst the challenges of the national and international scenario.
In such a context, the rising prices of raw materials, and an ever-increasing need to counter the spread of phenomena such as Italian sounding and caporalato, Princes Industrie Alimentari pointed out the need for shared actions and strategies among all parties to enhance the quality of Italian tomatoes abroad, as well as an even greater commitment to the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the entire supply chain.
"Princes in 2022 was the first food processor in Italy to formally define commitments to purchase quantities and prices of raw material with agricultural suppliers. It also acknowledged the efforts of the best cooperatives and producers in the area who stood out during the last season, awarding €4.5 mln, in addition to the floor price, as a bonus for the quality and sustainability of tomatoes," said Gianmarco Laviola, CEO of Princes Industrie Alimentari, when speaking to more than 40 representatives of the main cooperatives and producers in Capitanata.
"To cope with the uncertainties that our sector will encounter in the coming years," explains Gianmarco Laviola, "we firmly reiterate the need to give life to a shared strategy along the entire supply chain, which is able to highlight the value and competitiveness of tomatoes produced in Italy. To meet this accomplishment, it is crucial that all parties work together to attain this common goal, strengthening the commitment to sustainability in every link of the supply chain and investing forces and resources in the development of Agriculture 4.0 solutions."
A strategy leveraged by Princes' business model has already seen collaborations with the main Italian workers' associations (CGIL Flai, Fai CISL and UILA UIL), Italian trade associations (Coldiretti) and third sector entities (Oxfam Italia) to promote the best practices of the agri-food chain and the competitiveness of tomatoes made in Capitanata.
Most of the tomatoes processed in Foggia are harvested in the area, within a short distance from the factory where a variety of products are made both under the company's own brand and for retail customers, which are later commercialized and distributed around the world.
During the meeting, Princes presented its annual awards to the Capitanata cooperatives and producers with the highest levels of performance in sustainability and product quality, which are shown below:
• Tomato QUALITY Award for Cooperative
These were the three cooperatives with the best tomatoes, in terms of critical and quality defects
- Il Gallo coop. agricola arl
- Eurocoop coop. agricola arl
- San Sebastiano coop. agricola arl
• Tomato QUALITY Award by producer
These are the three farms that stood out for conferring the best tomatoes, in terms of critical and quality defects
- Azienda Agricola D'Aloia Leonarda -Futuragri Società
- Azienda Agricola Mascia Angelica - La Fara Giardino coop. agricola arl
- Azienda Agricola D'Angelo Lorenzo Benedetto - Eurocoop coop. agricola arl
• SUSTAINABILITY Award for Cooperative
The cooperative that has excelled in adopting more sustainable agronomic techniques:
- La Fara Giardino coop. agricola arl
• SUSTAINABILITY Award for Company:
The farm that has excelled in adopting more sustainable agronomic techniques
- Azienda Agricola Borrelli Angelo -Terranova coop. agricola soc. arl
• Award greater quantity supplied over what was stipulated in the contract:
- Il Gallo coop. agricola arl
- Futuragri Society
- Terranova coop. agricola soc. arl
During the meeting, PIA shared plans for the 2023 campaign, during which all initiatives, begun in 2022, will be followed up to ensure that the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the entire supply chain is fully achieved, as enshrined in the "22-24 Supply Chain Contract," signed with Coldiretti and all Producer Organizations.
"The agricultural partners who have embraced PIA's sustainability project, demonstrating that they care about the future of this sector, are confirmed as strategic partners for the following years as well," concluded Gianmarco Laviola.
For more information:
Princes Industrie Alimentari Srl
Località Incoronata - Zona ASI
71122 Foggia (FG) - Italy
+39 0881 352 400
www.princesgroup.com