In Italy, the harvest of strawberries started on September 27th and, until a few days ago, sales were very lively. Then they dropped due to the semi-closure announced by the government due to Covid-19.
"We are lucky because we have reached the end of fall harvesting, so we will get by one way or the other. Orders from restaurants and pastry shops halved in just two days, though," reports Andrea Albanesi from Filinara Farm in Monterubbiano (Fermo).
Everything was fine until last week. The production is of excellent quality and the owners calculated that they will harvest between 150 and 180 grams per plant in the fall period.
Valdaso is particularly suitable for fall cultivation, as there is good ventilation that impedes humidity. Bruno Mezzetti, professor at Università Politecnica delle Marche and strawberry researcher, believes in a further development of the sector in this region.
"The Marche region has never had a strawberry cultivation tradition, but there are areas that are particularly suitable for high-quality productions. There are not many producer companies, but they immediately opted for state-of-the-art techniques to produce strawberries that taste nice."
The company now grows 9000 soilless plants in addition to traditional ones. "Thanks to our two cultivation techniques, we manage to produce fruits 7 months a year. We do not focus on volumes, but rather on high-quality. The spring harvest sees the higher yields, though the fall harvest is also significant. We are very pleased with the prices despite the situation of the past few days."
Contacts: 
Filinara Farm
Via Abbadia, 127
63825 Monterubbiano (FM)
Email: [email protected]
Website: filinarafarm.com