With the backing of six towns at the heart of fresh grape production to the south-east of Bari, the event returns for its second edition in the last week of July
Members of the table grape industry are preparing to come together for their second annual Regina di Puglia meeting on 21-24 July.
The event, which aims to promote the south-east Italian region of Puglia as a major source of top-quality grapes, incorporates visits to vineyards and packhouses, business meetings between local producers and buyer-distributors, in-depth seminars, and cultural visits.
It is the second major industry event to take place in Puglia this month, following the Fruitnet Grape Congress on 4 July. At that event, 250 delegates from 16 different countries learnt about new market trends including a push towards better-performing varieties.
Regina di Puglia takes place around Noicàttaro and is organised by the Municipality of Noicattaro with support from Omnibus, publisher of the Corriere Ortofrutticiolo.
It also has the backing of a group known as Le Terre dell’Uva, a network of towns to the south-east of Bari which are all centres of table grape production and have come together to promote the industry.
Those municipalities are Noicàttaro, the municipalities of Rutigliano, Mola di Bari, Castellaneta, Adelfia, Casamassima and Polignano a Mare.
Key figures involved in the event include: Raimondo Innamorato, Mayor of Noicàttaro; Vito Fraschini, Noicàttaro Agriculture Councillor; Germana Pignatelli, Noicàttaro Councillor for Territorial Development; Luciana Di Bisceglie, president of the Bari Chamber of Commerce; Pietro Piccioni, vice-president of the Bari Chamber of Commerce and director of Coldiretti Puglia; Giacomo Suglia, president of APEO; and Mario Masellis, vice-president of sales and Marketing at Toronto-based Catania Worldwide.
“We are deeply convinced that this is a valid initiative to drive a sector of the Bari economy like table grapes,” says Di Bisceglie, “and what’s more, as we saw with the first edition, that it can bring together products and territorial development as a whole, based on sustainability that is not only economic but also social.”
The event is sponsored by retailer Megamark (Famila Superstore), APEO, Carby Label, and Tramaco, with support from CNA Puglia and the Tenuta Viglione Winery.
