Italian summer fruit comes into its own when the sun shines and hits the UK marketplace from May, to help make up a consistent supply of peaches, nectarines, cherries, melons and grapes from Europe. The distinctively shaped country is home to many well established growers and exporters, many of which have produced and traded fruit for generations, making the most of the mild climate and fertile soils.
But there are a number of challenges facing Italian growers and exporters, not least those brought on by the economic downturn, which has hit trade and knocked demand from all the major markets. On top of this, the sector has had to pull through a bout of hailstones last month, which has created further challenges in the shape of an eight- to 10-day delay to the start of the peach and nectarine seasons in northern parts of the country.
However, the major players have not been deterred and are keen to make the most of their offer over the coming months.
Italian summer fruit supply kicks off in May, when stonefruit comes on stream, followed by cherries mid-month, while grapes bring up the rear, with supplies stretching from July all the way to December.
These lines make up the most popular exports to the UK, but are just some in a varied basket of fruit that Italy grows and trades in the warmer months.
This year, the landscape of the summer fruit market could mean gains for Italian growers and exporters as they step in to fill gaps that are expected as a result of significant losses in France and Spain, particularly in the stonefruit category. Italian volumes, on the other hand, are expected to remain in line with last year.
ISTAT figures show that Italian stonefruit production has reached 148,000 hectares, with Emilia Romagna, Campania and Apulia as the main producing regions. Apulia and Sicily host the majority of Italian grape production, which has reached 69,000ha.
However, there is a substantial gap between what is produced in Italy and what is sent to the UK. Peach production weighs in at 1.1 million tonnes and nectarine volumes reach 628,000t, but just 19,424t and 6,400t respectively are exported to the UK.
In the same way, Italian grape output measures 1.3mt, but only 7,385t are sent to the UK.
Carlo Bianchi, director of association Fruitimprese, insists that Italy is the top producer in Europe and among the most important in the world. However, he admits that the summer season may not be as strong as expected following weather events last month.
“The Italian climate is ideal and geographically, we are well positioned to have a big window of production,” says Bianchi. “We have the ideal conditions to cultivate good fruit.
“Obviously, we are in competition with the rest of Europe and we often suffer from the fact that production costs are lower in other countries, so for this reason we must highlight the superior quality of Italian fruit.”
Eraldo Secchi from Co-operativa Terremerse is hoping that Italian summer fruit players will have improved bargaining power this season within the European market as a whole. He expects summer fruit volumes to be in line with last year.
“This season, we are expecting a better distribution throughout the production calendar,” Secchi says. “This will be a comfort to producers, who last year saw the production schedules of northern and southern Italy overlap with Spain and other countries, resulting in falling prices because of the large volumes of product on the market.
“We are hoping for better bargaining power this season, especially given the lower volumes in Spain. And the exchange rate between the euro and sterling is certainly better this year.”
The forward-thinking co-operative has production in Emilia Romagna, Lazio and Basilicata.
“In the long term, we are always working to renew our varietal offer,” says Secchi. “This allows us to grow high-quality fruit that responds to market requirements.”
The Italian summer fruit season may have got off to a slow start, but it is still early days for the grape category, which completes the seasonal offer when it comes on stream in July.
Domenico Liturri, sales manager at Agricoper, is hopeful that the grape season will play out better than last year. The Apulia-based company produces grapes on 300ha from July to December, growing a wide range from Sugraone and Crimson to Vittoria, Red Globe, Palieri and Italia.
“This season, we are expecting that production will be good and might even be better than it was last year,” says Liturri. “The south of Italy is particularly suited to grape production because of the mild climate and fertile soils, which allows the highest quality. At the same time, Italy’s central position provides a logistical advantage.
“However, there is competition with Spain, Turkey and Greece, but our grapes are of a superior quality and this makes our offer stand out.”
Across the summer fruit category, the UK market is seen as an important market, but it is not the biggest for Italian fruit. Germany, for example, has long been a top customer of the country’s summer fruit, as are the surrounding European markets.
Antonio Baglioni from Apofruit maintains that the UK is a key market, with peach and nectarine sendings to the UK alone representing 20 per cent of the total. He insists that the Italian offer can stand up to competition from rival European sources to maintain relationships with customers in the long term.
“Italian production of peaches and nectarines is expected to be slightly inferior to last year,” Baglioni explains. “However, as well as standard varieties, Italy offers an ample list of new lines, from peaches and nectarines to seedless grapes. This innovation helps us to compete with the likes of Spain, France and Greece, with new varieties and products, new pack formats and a high level of service.”
Together, Italian summer fruit producers provide a wide-ranging and high-quality offer that will move into the spotlight in the next few months. Whether UK buyers choose Italian lines to fill gaps or to seek out something different, the market for Italian summer fruit is expected to increase as growers and exporters have the chance to take a bigger share of the market this year.
ITALIAN GROWERS AND EXPORTERS MUST SEEK OUT UK OPPORTUNITIES
Italian summer fruit players could have more opportunities in the UK market than they realise. Here, Raffaello Bernardi, marketing specialist at AgroTer - Produce Marketing Services, gives a rundown of the evolution of commercial relations between Italy and the UK.
Summer fruit represents a key part of the Italian fresh produce offer, making up a notable part of production every year and with an average of 3.2 million tonnes produced in Italy every year over the last decade.
Peaches, nectarines, melons and watermelon make up the most popular summer lines, representing 84 per cent of the fruit harvested in the boot-shaped country over the warmer months.
Domestic consumption, though high, cannot absorb the volume of summer fruit produced in Italy each year and this is where exports come in. Germany has always been the most popular market for Italian growers and exporters, importing nearly half of the stonefruit offer (41 per cent) and significant proportions of melon and watermelon volumes (19 per cent and 34 per cent respectively).
The UK is the second-biggest market for Italian peaches and nectarines but, while this has been stable over the last three years, the UK’s market share slipped from 13 per cent in 2000-01 to eight per cent in the 2007-09 period, which means there is some work to do to turn this around.
It is clear from the numbers that if the reinforcement of the commercial partnership between Italy and the UK becomes a strategic plan to mitigate the market imbalance by offering a home to surpluses in the stonefruit and melon categories, there could be future growth.
When looking at the provenance of summer fruits consumed by the public - UK production of these varieties is comparatively small - it is clear that Italy is the second most popular source for peaches and nectarines, with a market share of 29 per cent, having given way to Spain, at 48 per cent share. Italian melon supply comes in at a close sixth place, with a share of two per cent, while watermelon supply ranks ninth.
So why should Italian summer fruit players roll up their sleeves and invest more in the British market? A careful analysis will reveal at least four factors.
First, we must not forget the high level of perishability that still characterises these products, hence the need to export to neighbouring markets. This is, at least, until we work with varieties that have improved keeping qualities and until we can better transit time management, to ensure high quality even to distant destinations.
Second, it should be noted that the UK consumption of fruit and vegetables is still far from saturation levels, particularly when compared with the amount recommended by the World Health Organisation and with the levels found in benchmark countries, such as Italy and Greece. The UK industry is doing much to promote growth but, according to a survey conducted in 2008 on behalf of the Fresh Produce Consortium, it was found that unless there is a radical change in eating habits, it will take more than 20 years to reach the recommended quantities.
Another reason to invest more in trade relations with UK partners is the strong interest for high-end products.
The fourth and final reason for a prospective growth of trade with the UK is the possibility of reducing the competitive pressure in the peaks of the campaign and expanding the marketing calendar, which is still too concentrated in the middle period, through the introduction of new cultivars with early or late maturation.
UK consumers do not have the same understanding of the seasonal calendar, so there could be opportunities - particularly on melons - to extend the window of supply.
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