Company targets 40 per cent growth in overall volume from Europe, as retail interest in its range of varieties grows
Italian marketer Jingold says it plans to expand its production area in Europe by around 40 per cent, as demand for its wide range of varieties – especially from retailers – continues to grow.
According to the group, it managed to sell a larger volume of kiwifruit from its Northern Hemisphere supply base this season, sourcing from growers in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece.
Production in the latter country continues to increase steadily and, according to technical manager Cristina Fabbroni, offers the biggest opportunity to expand – particularly for yellow kiwifruit.
“To date, we have approximately 2,150 hectares of yellow-fleshed kiwifruit in the Northern Hemisphere,” she says. “The goal is to reach three thousand hectares in the coming years. As for red kiwifruit, we expect to double the surface [area], going from the current 250 hectares to 500 hectares.”
Jingold’s Northern Hemisphere campaign began in October with red kiwifruit and ended in late March, although some sales of its yellow- and red-fleshed varieties were expected to continue later, and green kiwifruit was set to remain available until volumes ran out.
The company apparently sold around 30,000 tonnes of kiwifruit this season – including 22,000 tonnnes of yellow, 6,000 tonnes of green, and around 2,000 tonnes of red – and saw particularly strong demand from supermarkets and consumers.
Turnover was higher than expected at almost €85mn, in part thanks to a season that was a few weeks longer than expected.
“For red-fleshed kiwifruit, we developed good programmes with some big European retail chains and introduced this variety to some strategic overseas partners who, like us, believe in the unique potential of the product and have decided to invest in it,” explains sales manager Moreno Armuzzi.
“As regards yellow kiwifruit, a favourable spread of sizes and greater quantities available allowed us to extend programmes with many customers.”
There was also noteworthy growth for green kiwifruit, he adds. “We have further developed the supply of Greek product, in parallel with that of Italian product, reaching sales that were plus 15 per cent compared with last year.”
Expanding interest
As the harvest of Jingold’s first new-season yellow kiwifruit gets underway in South America and South Africa, retail interest in the fruit continues to grow steadily, it notes, both in established markets like Germany, France and south-east Asia, and in emerging markets.
“The product continues to gain space on shelves, thanks to its distinctive characteristics of sweetness, consistency and constant quality,” suggests Giacomo Mazzotti, Jingold’s commercial supply chain officer.
“Even green kiwifruit, despite a complex Italian production context, has shown interesting signs: the performance of the branded product is positive, demonstrating the ever-increasing search by consumers for a quality product.”
“On red kiwifruit,” he adds, “the increase in availability has allowed us to launch more long-lasting programs with retailers, especially for packaged products in Italian large-scale retail trade and for loose products in foreign markets, where consumer interest is growing, despite a still challenging context.”
