Company representatives led by Nick Kirton reportedly met with officials at Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome
Senior managers at Zespri Europe have met with high-ranking Italian government officials to discuss the New Zealand-based kiwifruit marketer’s future commercial relations with producer organisations in the country.
Among those understood to have been present at the meeting are Nick Kirton, Zespri’s executive officer for Northern Hemisphere supply, and Alessandra Capitani, president of the Pontine Kiwi Consortium, who both apparently met with Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani and undersecretary of state Giorgio Silli.
According to Salvatore De Meo, Member of the European Parliament for Central Italy, who also attended the meeting, the meeting was held in Rome earlier this month at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a note to the press issued afterwards, De Meo thanked the minister and undersecretary for their attention, and for highlighting the strategic role kiwifruit production plays in Italy’s agricultural sector.
“During the meeting,” he added, “which I attended considering that the majority of Zespri-branded kiwifruit production is concentrated in Lazio and especially in the province of Latina, the Italian government’s interest in strengthening trade between the two countries was reiterated and Zespri’s development strategies in kiwifruit production in other European countries were also analysed.”
Last week, Zespri confirmed it will ask its NZ member growers to vote on a plan to expand its Zespri Global Supply business with the addition of 2,500ha of mainly SunGold kiwifruit in Italy, France, Greece, South Korea and Japan.
