After a year characterised by exceptional weather events, it's no surprise that the Italian fresh produce sector is going through a crisis. Sicily and its table tomatoes are suffering the most, as prices at origin are rather low and probably won't help producers.
With the very popular cherry tomatoes from Vittoria registering €0.40-0.45 for the 'extra' quality, how will businesses stay afloat?
In November 2016, the high temperatures favoured the proliferation of viruses, so 70-80% of plants had to be uprooted in some areas. The products most affected were courgettes and tomatoes, so producers had to spend more to uproot and replant crops.
Many of these new plantlets didn't even have enough time to grow, as January and February were characterised by frost and floods. Some producers decided to replant everything for a third time hoping to recover at least part of the expenses, but many just couldn't do it. In the meantime, the lack of produce drove prices up.
Prices then remained average until a few weeks ago, when they dropped, as usual, with the arrival of the first high temperatures. Unlike previous years, however, this year there are no protests accusing politicians, the EU or the Euro-Moroccan agreements, also because produce was damaged in Morocco and Spain as well. In addition, greenhouses in Vittoria and Acate are full of green tomatoes, simply because plants were replanted two or three times, so growers still haven't made one cent from their productions.
This is a worrying situation if we consider that the Netherlands, the leading tomato exporter country, is also registering a drop in prices.
So what is happening to tomatoes? We asked the question to Luciano Trentini, expert consultant part of the EC horticultural product promotion group.
Above: Luciano Trentini
"A meeting has been organised in Brussels to discuss this situation. Anyway, people are talking about excessive production in northern Europe due to the abundant quantities available and to the increase in cultivated areas."
"In addition, the improvement of cultivation techniques means there is more produce available, leading to a drop in prices. This situation might have a negative effect on our markets as well, as we import from Holland over 40% of our requirements."
"But it's still too early to make an assessment, as the campaign is long. Things seem not so great in Holland, but French tomatoes are unaffected, especially since imports from Morocco have decreased and prices are slightly higher than in 2016."