"Working only with varieties that are most appreciated by consumers, especially in terms of taste, continues to be our goal, even in a campaign characterized by abnormal weather, such as the one recorded this year," says Natalino Gallo, president of the Agricor producers' organization of Corigliano-Rossano (CS), owner of the Gallo commercial brand.
"It has rained only a little, but it rained every day from mid-April to mid-
June, that is, from the flowering to the harvesting of early varieties. We have, therefore, recorded damage on the flowers, with obvious dropouts, and then also on the little early crop, with ripening in late May/early June, which cracked (split) due to too much water and, as a result, was of poor quality," Gallo explains. "From continuous rain we have now moved to extreme heat. In week 25 we reached 37 °C, after an average of 12 °C in the previous period."
For the past few days, Op Agricor's apricot campaign has been moving forward with the tasty varieties (Orange Rubis and Cot family, for example), the fruits that Gallo likes to refer to as tasting like real apricots.
"These are cultivars that are organoleptically superior in terms of quality, color and flavor. And they win over the consumer who buys them. This is a good reason to remain hopeful during this campaign, which began under the sign of bad weather. The current volumes are very limited," adds Gallo, "but at a commercial level, there has been a lot of confusion for the past two weeks. Despite the lack of product, prices are trending downward. I would interpret this trend by looking at the bad behavior of some operators who have been storing harvested apricots still green in cold storage and now have to dispose of them. Doing so, however, jeopardizes the commercial campaign of the quality product and it is inconceivable to give away the fruit after so many sacrifices."
Op Agricor's limited volumes of zero-residue, supply chain-controlled apricots are destined for the domestic market. "Fortunately, we work with serious chains that understand the value of our product. In terms of exports, Austria is the most consistent destination for us at the moment. In the northern European markets, Turkey and Greece are strong competitors, as they can offer larger quantities of product, at cheaper prices."
"In past years, our organic apricots have had very positive feedback in Austria itself and in Germany. We are waiting for more volumes to continue our activities," concluded Gallo.
Photos provided by Natalino Gallo
For more information: www.gallofrutta.net/it