"The weather caused a considerable drop in the production of industry tomatoes in the Ravenna and Ferrara provinces, we can say of around 40% now that the campaign has ended," reports Arturo Santini, general manager at La Cesenate Conserve Alimentari.
Arturo Santini
"The hail, the flood and rain until late June damaged the production of tomatoes and fruit. For tomatoes, even though the losses amount to 40%, we limited the damage by purchasing produce from other areas in Italy, so we contained it to around 10%." La Cesenate processes around 53 thousand tons of tomatoes every year.
According to Santini, the processed tomato market is rather stable in this period, at times even slow. "It was brilliant and with high demand until June, then things settled. We produce a lot of organic tomatoes, which always find their place, however things have been less lively lately."
La Cesenate holds the majority of "Alce Nero" shares and a lot of the organic tomatoes are sold under this brand. "But large quantities are sold in 220 kg drums, or in 25 ton tanks. The market also extends beyond Italy to northern Europe."
"As for fruit, losses have been much higher at around 90%. We grow produce in Romagna and have had to put up with frost in April, the flood and even a hailstorm. In this case too, we sourced quality fruit from other areas in Italy."
For further information
La Cesenate Conserve Alimentari
Via Cervese 364,
47521 Cesena - Italy
+39 0547 631150
[email protected]
www.lacesenate.it