A slow start to the season and a change in the regulations governing coldstorage are causing concern for Italian pear exporters as their new campaign gets underway.
With this year's Italian crop delayed by up to two weeks and continued warm temperatures even into October sustaining demand for stonefruit in particular, pear marketers in the country say they face a greater challenge this year in getting their own campaign up and running.
'The 2013/14 campaign has begun more slowly because of delayed ripening,' confirmed exporter Marco Salvi, head of the country's fresh produce exporters' association Fruitimprese.
'What's more, the recent temperatures have risen above the seasonal average, and the markets have been consistently full of summer produce, which is available at very convenient prices, for a longer time.'
Furthermore, producers are having to cope with a recently imposed ban on ethoxyquin, a fungicide traditionally used to control scald.
'The one real unknown with this campaign is storability,' explains Salvi. 'In fact, this is the first year in which we haven't been able to use ethoxyquin as part of our post-harvest treatment.'
He added: 'This is a particular concern when it comes to the Abate and Conference varieties, which are normally sold until the end of April and until May-June respectively.'
The recent opening of the US market to Italian pears, albeit under strict a protocol, does offer some prospect of building demand in new markets, however.
Stefano Soli, marketing director of major Italian exporter Alegra, believes this represents an important commercial opportunity.
'The commercial prospects for Italian pears, and for Abate in particular, have increased this year thanks to the opening of the US market, but it's still definitely too early to draw conclusions,' he said.
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