"Cooperativa Il Girasole is among the few citrus fruit companies still processing fruits this season with late oranges such as Valencia Late and Ovale Calabrese. In addition, we believe we are the only ones who will commercialize Meli and Sant'Alfio Tarocco oranges until late-May. Luck was on our side, as most of our groves are located on land suitable for late production. This is helping us make up for the huge damages incurred in February by the Sciara, Gallo and Scirè varieties, which are usually excellent in the medium period," reports Giovanni Scavo, sales manager at Il Girasole Soc. Coop.
In the photo, Giovanni Scavo and Serena Scavo, i.e. the sales department at Il Girasole Soc. Coop.
"The flavor of late Tarocco varieties in increasingly rewarded by Italian consumers and shows that Tarocco oranges are not just a winter citrus fruit, but also a fresh option for the spring. In particular, this year, demand is much higher than that for other fruit typically present in spring, e.g. melons, apricots and cherries, also because supply is still limited and not inviting due to the cold and rainy weather."
From an agronomic point of view, the rain that has hit eastern Sicily over the past month has been much more abundant than that that fell during the entire winter.
"The rain has meant we have managed to save on the water resources needed during the hottest months. The bad weather could cause some damage such as diseases caused by aphids and/or microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, mold), but they are curable by intervening in time. Blossoming seems very abundant and promising for the development of fruits during the next campaign. However, we cannot say the same for stone fruit and top fruit, as fruit development is already underway and the produce will show damage."
"It is important to stress that all pre and post-harvesting phases at Il Girasole are monitored by a team of professional agronomists and carried out in compliance with specifications that enable us to obtain all the certifications (GlobalGAP, IFS, BRC, IGP, etc.) required by the big retail chains, with which we are trying to establish stronger relations."
"Over the past year, we have completed various investments an innovations. First of all, the 4.0 transition enables us to interconnect all machines and control them remotely via a new management software. We also installed ozone systems in all cold storage cells to sanitize all fruits and prolong their shelf-life and created an e-commerce to meet all consumer requests," concluded Giovanni Scavo.
The company:
Cooperativa Il Girasole is a Sicilian company located at the foothills of Mount Etna in the Paternò Industrial Development Area. It covers 3,500 sq m with refrigerated units that enable the storage of around 600 tons and the rotation of a further 300 tons. The cooperative boasts 500 hectares of early, medium and late citrus fruit part of the PGI Sicilian blood orange production area. The main varieties are navel, tarocco, moro and sanguinello, plus lemons, nova clememtines and Tardivo di Ciaculli tangerines. Summer fruits include peaches, nectarines and coscia pears. Another 100 hectares are destined to stone fruit (peaches/nectarines) in the Caltanissetta and Agrigento provices and to coscia pears between Bronte and Maniace.
For further information: 
Il Girasole Soc. Coop.
VIA Francesco Petrarca, 51
95047 Paternò (CT) - Italy
(+39) 095 623381
Giovanni Scavo (+39) 337 950 732
Serena Scavo (+39) 3474242478
[email protected]
www.ilgirasolearance.com