"Over the past few days, we have received good feedback for our PGI produce thanks to incessant promotion and communication activities. The Netherlands and Poland showed particular interest," reveals Sebastiano Fortunato, President of Consorzio di Tutela del Pomodoro di Pachino Igp.
Sebastiano Fortunato at Fruit Logistica 2023
"The steep gas increases penalized Dutch tomatoes, as they require artificial heating and lighting to ripen. This has meant that the Netherlands and Poland, in order to avoid applying exorbitant prices for final consumers, have identified PGI tomatoes from Pachino as a suitable solution to meet the needs of their chains at a fair price and in line with the added value of a product such as ours during periods when their domestic production is not available. This makes us hopeful for the future, after months characterized by a drop in production and due to the recent weather events that have damaged our sector and the whole of Sicily."
"The relations we established during the events we attended abroad, Berlin included, represent an important result. After all, the Board of the consortium has already given us the go-ahead to develop these new destinations in accordance with an internationalization plan that is among the main elements of our program together with sustainability and respect for the environment," explains the Director of the consortium Salvatore Chiaramida.
Archive photo
"Production in the areas growing Pomodoro di Pachino Igp is not doing well due to the damage caused by the bad weather on February 8 and 9. All the damaged facilities are currently being fixed. Supply programs with partner clients have been prejudiced, as production dropped to just a few tons. This is also testified by the prices, which currently exceed €3/kg. This is crazy, if we think that, around the New Year, prices hovered around 30/40/50 eurocents with batches of unsold midi plum tomatoes due to the abnormal high temperatures," adds Fortunato.
"The arrival of new members over the past year, with a 10% increase in cultivated areas, has not made things much better. To fully grasp the production gap, we will have to wait a few days when it will be possible to assess the actual damage. We are still hopeful, though, so we will take care of our foreign contacts with whom we have established to start the programs as soon as possible."
For further information:
Sebastiano Fortunato
Consorzio di Tutela Pomodoro
di Pachino Igp
Via Milano, 2
96018 Pachino (SR) - Italy
+39 0931 595106
[email protected]
www.igppachino.it