From a purely commercial standpoint, this has been a controversial season for the Sicilian table grape, with some not always positive consequences at an international scale," says Giuseppe Morreale, owner of Naturè, based in Vittoria, Sicily.
Giuseppe Morreale
"The beginning of the marketing year, which started with the early Victoria and Black Magic grapes, saw an upward trend in purchases in the countryside," the trader continued, "and excellent prices in the first few weeks. This had a discouraging effect on marketing and led to caution on the part of local operators. In fact, as attention waned, prices stabilised and production quotations reached between 0.70 and 0.80 euros per kilo on the vine. On the other hand, we are coming out of a mild winter and a warm spring, with production below normal yields," he says.
'With the arrival of the medium-late product, the Italia and Red Globe varieties," says Morreale again, "the situation was quite normal in terms of field purchases. However, the prolonged heat and drought affected the quality of the Italia grapes to such an extent that the quantities that could be marketed were historically low compared to what we are used to for this time of year. This was compounded by sporadic weather events, including fog and rain. This made the grapes unattractive. The result was a further reduction in volumes. The combination of high temperatures and fog made the grapes unsuitable for logistical timing. In fact, it only took a few hours for the grapes to become unappealing once they were packed."
Italia variety grapes affected by physiopathy, which reduced their value and increased prices
The poor quality of the product in the last part of the campaign made our work very difficult, at least for the Italia variety," says Morreale. "It caused the prices of the good lots to soar, with a kind of speculation on prices that suddenly jumped to 1.50-1.60 euros per kilo on the vine. While this dynamic is understandable, the result has been an imbalance in sales on international markets, at least for us. Hence the decision to stop marketing Italia variety grapes. The situation was different for Red Globe. By maintaining production at the same level as in previous years, we were able to finish the campaign in line with our plans. The season basically ended more than a month early, and only the large retailers continued to support the marketing in the last part by offering such high prices, while a large part of the wholesalers stopped working even earlier."
For more information: 
Giuseppe Morreale
Naturè Srl
+39 334 9153935
[email protected]
www.naturesrl.net