Over-ripening and scalding with quality not meeting expectations - this is why the processing industry is returning many tomato batches to producers. It is precisely what happened to Paolo Goldin from Rovigo, who made €4,000 less than usual.
"I talked to other colleagues and it seems all industries are taking advantage of the situation to get rid of produce. I honestly feel disappointed and humiliated, because I don't feel quality was so poor. Sometimes I doubt people understand the effort we put into it. For each hectare of produce rejected, we lose €4,000..."
Goldin owns a company covering 70 hectares, 10 of which are dedicated to tomato production. "It's the first time something like this has happened, but it doesn't seem like a coincidence. Cultivated areas have dropped by 30% over the past few years and prices are still dropping instead of increasing. In addition, imports of triple concentrate from China are increasing. For the most part, it reprocessed and re-exported as a 'made in Italy' product."