Several of Italy's leading pear marketers have formed a new marketing alliance to promote sales of the fruit under a new brand, Pera Italia.
Formed by nine companies based in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, Pera Italia is the country's first ever national trademark for premium-quality pears and should see those key players collaborating closely in areas including production, distribution, sales and marketing.
The consortium said it aimed to encourage growth in sales of the fruit mainly through modern retail channels around the world – starting with test campaigns later this year in European and non-EU markets – while achieving a stronger competitive advantage by sharing costs and increasing efficiency.
The companies involved – Salvi Unacoa, Spreafico, Granfrutta Zani, Naturitalia, Patfrut, Orogel Fresco, Pempacorer, Opera and Bergonzoni – together produce around 100,000 tonnes of pears each year, representing about 12 per cent of Italy's fresh crop and more than a quarter of its annual production of main variety Abate Fetel.
With an annual crop of around 900,000 tonnes, according to WAPA, Italy is Europe's largest pear producer and the second-largest worldwide after the US, producing more than double the output of Europe's next-biggest supplier, Spain.
Luciano Torreggiani of Patfrut has been named as the inaugural president of Pera Italia, with Salvi Unacoa's Mauro Grossi set to act as his deputy. It is understood that neither will receive a salary from the consortium.
The alliance is a due to be in place for at least three years, at which point its members will review the progress of the project before deciding whether or not to continue.
Positive step
The establishment of a national pear marketing alliance will be seen as hugely positive step for the Italian fresh produce business, for which pears continue to be a flagship product but also one which, when compared with other global sources such as the US Northwest or Portugal, arguably does not achieve its full potential in terms of export sales of value-added fruit.
Critics may point to the fact that some of Italy's largest pear companies are not involved in the project, among them Fruit Modena Group, which marketed 65,000 tonnes of pears in 2011, Mazzoni (29,000 tonnes), Agrintesa (20,000 tonnes) Apofruit Italia (18,700 tonnes),
However, the move does appear in tune with increasing demand for brands that can appeal to larger regional and global markets; it also echoes last year's creation of Kiwi Fruit of Italy, a similar consortium established by some of the country's leading kiwifruit suppliers.
Eurofruit understands that Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli, Italy's foremost marketing and research agency, had been in discussions to work with the new marketing group on behalf of its members, but in the end opted not to take part.
Two of CSO's largest members, Agrintesa and Apofruit, both market a substantial volume of pears but apparently turned down the opportunity to participate, preferring to focus on developing sales of the fruit under their own brands, Valfrutta and Solarelli respectively.
Apparently complicating the situation further was the fact that CSO has invested a great deal of time and funding to build up an EU-backed protected geographical indication trademark for Emilia-Romagna pears, a separate branding alliance which involves all of the region's pear companies including those who have formed Pera Italia.
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