For the OP Zuccarella cooperative, the new strawberry season has been underway for about two weeks now. Supply and demand are currently unbalanced. There is a strong demand for the product from both Italian and foreign operators, according to sales manager Luca Zuccarella.
"The quantities are gradually increasing. We receive requests for 14 to 15 pallets a day, but no more than 5 come into the warehouse. Rather than stagger volumes trying to satisfy everyone, we decided to have daily shifts with different customers so everyone has a satisfactory number of packages and not too limited. It is a way of working that is functioning and that satisfies the operators at the same time. We can't complain about the prices. They are in line with production costs. The market is responding well, and the coming holidays are only going to improve sales further. About 40 hectares are planted with strawberries for the current campaign."
Most of the strawberries grown by the cooperative are destined for the large Italian retailers. "About 80 percent goes to national supermarkets, the remaining goes to wholesale markets and German distributors. Every day, we harvest early rooted varieties like Fortuna, Limvalnera, RedSayra Red Samantha, NSG 203 (Marimbella®), and Inspire. We expect a 10 percent increase in production over the next two weeks. Three product types: 250g and 300g, as well as the 500g monolayer."
Finally, Zuccarella points out, "With the transplanting of the fresh variety, there are problems with plants that do not root well. For this reason, we are of the opinion that production will be lower in January and February 2024 throughout the Basilicata region."
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For more information:
OP Zuccarella Soc. Coop. Agr.
Via Parisi, 16 - Scanzano Jonico (MT)
Tel.: +39 0835 418009
[email protected]
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