Zeta Seeds Italy went to visit Sicily, in particular the Ragusa area from Scicli to Pachino, the Syracuse area and the South-West of the island. According to Stefano Campazzi from Zeta Seeds the production of organic vegetables is quite popular in these areas of Sicily, and they are grown in protected environments as well as in open fields.
"Having to supply the external market, where the consumption of organic products is growing rapidly, companies who work in this sector always know what to produce, when and especially for who to plan their productions - retailers, H&R or the fresh-cut sector. A lot of attention is also dedicated to logistics, packaging, certifications and customer service."
"That is to say that, everything that is usually deemed difficult, or even impossible, is quite normal for organic companies, which would not be able to export without these prerequisites."
Among the latest interesting news for sales abroad, the demand from countries in the North-East of Europe, comprising Russia, is growing.
Nothing is left to chance
Despite the growing foreign market, Sicilian organic production must always compete with similar productions from the Mediterranean basin. Because of this, nothing must be left to chance.
Campazzi stresses that, "the shape, size, colour, shelf-life and even the choice of vegetables because of their organoleptic qualities are really important for the most competitive companies."
The production calendar in the Autumn-Winter and Winter-Spring period is characterised by some key cultivations:
- square peppers, two thirds of which are red and one third is yellow
- black oval Spanish oblong aubergines
- small (52-57) bunch tomatoes, crown-less plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and cocktail/babytom tomatoes
- 18-22 cm dark-bright green courgettes
- cucumbers, both classic and long Dutch
- melons, both ESL netted ones with orange flesh and Galia. In the last few years, even small smooth Canary yellow melons, especially in June and September/October
- mini-watermelons with seeds or seedless
The experience of the Natursì company of brothers Massimo and Marco Spataro
"Our visits included the Natursì company located in Ispica that are owned by brothers Massimo and Marco Spataro. In the last few years, the technical service of ZSeeds Italy has worked with them to choose varieties, production periods and cultivation techniques in order to improve yields."
Natursì specialises in the production of:
Red square Aquiles.
- Aquiles red (photo above) and Belmar yellow (photo below) peppers, which are increasingly popular both abroad and domestically.
Yellow square Belmar .
- Black Spanish Frac aubergine, the only variety foreign markets find ideal for its shape, colour, slow seed development and easy setting even in thermal stress conditions.
Frac, Spanish black aubergines.
- Leon/Tocon courgettes - dark, shiny and perfectly cylindrical.
- Classic Zingaro parthenocarpic cucumbers as well as Belmonte/Gallito Dutch cucumbers.
- Netted ESL melons with pigmented flesh like Oasi and Monaco and seedless Chicago mini-watermelons.
- Bunch Powerty tomatoes (52-57 grades) and recent single fruit and bunch plum unicolor (90-120 grams) tomatoes like Capirex.
Bunch red Powerty .
Contacts:
Zeta Seeds Italia
Via G. Pallotti, 14/a-b-c
40133 Bologna - Italy
Tel . +39 051 833555 / +39 051 351334
Fax. +39.051.839333
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.zetaseeds.it
Stefano Campazzi
Mob.: +39 329 8474284