"This is an excellent moment for Sicilian prickly pears, as they are in great demand in Belgium and France and are enjoying great success," reports Roberto Chiosso, sales manager of Coas s.c.a.r.l, fully showing his enthusiasm.
Roberto Chiosso
"I am talking about bastardone, the prickly pears obtained from the second flowering, after the scozzolatura of the first fruiting flowers, i.e. when flowers are removed manually to allow plants to grow larger fruits. They generally ripen between October and December in the suitable areas of San Cono, in the province of Catania."
Ficodinida Coas
Geronimo is the brand name of high-quality prickly pears
"The rather strong demand for our product on the European markets is the result of years of communication and awareness-raising activities for a product that, until a few decades ago, was marginal if not completely excluded from large-scale distribution circuits," explains the expert. "Today, we market our prickly pears under the Geronimo brand, synonymous with high quality, in Italy (50%) as well as in Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland for another 50% overall. They are very popular among Italian emigrants who also influence consumers of local and international origin."
Detail of a crate of Geronimo-branded prickly pears, which Coas markets as a high-quality product
"Another significant moment for our association is the campaign of bell peppers (red and yellow) from Licata, another high-quality Sicilian product which, due to its earliness in the autumn-winter campaign, is among the first available on the national and foreign markets. Demand is particularly tense at the moment due to a general lack of produce in the countryside but, thanks to our privileged relations with the Licata production sector, we are still able to be among the first on the European markets."
Yellow peppers from Licata
For more information:
Coas Produttori Associati - Scarl 
Via Santi Cirillo e Metodio 5/D
70125 Bari - Italy
+39 080 2465770
[email protected]