"One aspect we are currently experiencing on the market is the promotion of domestic produce rather than the imported one due to the increase in costs in all producer countries worldwide. We are talking about bell peppers, strawberries, lemons, oranges and pears," reports Giuseppe Galluccio (in the photo), founder and sales manager at Gruppo La California, operating at Centro agroalimentare di Napoli-CAAN.
"In the past, fruit and vegetables reached Italy with low quotations, transport costs were lower, the Dollar-Euro exchange rate was more favorable and there were other aspects that helped imports. Now all these factors lack due to the various increases along the chain. In addition, the Spanish production has been lower over the past two-three years because of the weather. All this led to fewer imports on an Italian and European level, creating more space for local productions."
With the absence of Spain - a player that always handled large volumes - and with almost-doubled transport costs ("before, the cost of the central/southern Spain-Italy route was equal to that of the Sicily-Milan route," stresses Galluccio), it was possible to increase the value of the domestic produce. "Our Sicilian companies managed to achieve unprecedented results in terms of prices."
Oranges and further developments in agriculture (photos supplied by Gruppo La California)
According to Galluccio, because of the cost increases, mass production was reduced in favor of set programs. "We can see it in strawberries, but it also happened with bell peppers and other products."
As for the big retail chain: "We used to see special offers of €0.99/kg for bananas or pineapples at €1. Now it is no longer so. Wholesale bananas are distributed at €1.00 to €1.40/kg."
Egypt - a strong player
"It is a nation that floods the European and global markets with e.g. oranges. But it is also a country that has been very useful to us in a moment when the Spanish Iceberg lettuce production was lacking. The campaign was perfect and with numbers that even we did not expect. The same thing happened with Egyptian oranges, which we are continuing to import."
Iceberg lettuce (photo supplied by Gruppo La California)
The current crisis is due to change
"Our sector is seeing things very negatively right now, so we need to be more light-hearted. We need to be cautiously optimistic. Luckily commerce changes: an entrepreneur is good when he understands and rides change."
Gruppo La California is about to open a new warehouse, which will enable it to widen its assortment with new product categories. "We work with a good team of professionals and we implemented an instantaneous control system for economic-financial-accounting and operational management that enables us to establish where we are, what we are doing and where we can go. We start with the quality provided to our clients, suppliers and collaborators and we supply them with guarantees as well as produce. It is the only way to grow."
Gruppo La California will attend Macfrut (Rimini, May 3rd-5th 2023) in Hall D5 - Stand 4.
For further information: www.gruppolacalifornia.com