With wholesale prices hovering around 50 or even 70 cents above what would be an average price for this period, courgettes are extremely expensive at the moment. Wholesaler Nino Leonardi from Verona explained that "quotations lately have been reaching €1.20-1.50 per kg for grades between 14 and 21, whereas usually prices hover between 80 cents and €1."
The reason for this is quite simple - "there is very little produce available because the bad weather damaged open field crops in Sicily and it is still early for polytunnels. The same happened in Lazio."
Courgettes (Archive photo)
In addition, "there is no more produce available in Northern Italy, as quantities in Piedmont are finished."
Despite this, produce is not imported from other countries such as Spain, as "the product does not look good and it is too big for us."
The Verona wholesale market (Archive photo)
This situation should last for another two weeks. "Things will change when polytunnel production will start in Ispica and Ragusa between late October and early November, then prices should drop."
In addition to all this, demand is quite slow. "Consumers do not buy courgettes although quality is exceptional."