Established in 2004 in Mazzarrone (Catania), the OPI Sicula cooperative makes a positive assessment of the 2016 table grape campaign.
President Sammy Fisicaro told FreshPlaza: “Harvesting started 10 days earlier in late May/early June and ended a few days ago. We handled 750 thousand kg in total from 250 hectares, with a turnover of €8.5 million.”
The PO’s objective is to reach retailers directly and supply table grapes with a low active principle residues.
Vice-president Carmelo Giarracca reports that “all our 38 partners adhered to the GlobalGAP production specification. We have been working like this for the past two years and are very satisfied. One of the parameters, for example, requires that the 5 active principles are not exceeded.”
For what concerns varietal assortment, early Victoria and Black Magic grapes represent 40% of production and 45% is made up of Italia, red and black grapes. The cultivation of greenhouse seedless grapes started 4 years ago.
70% of the produce was shipped to Italy and 30% abroad (Germany, the Netherlands and France. “Especially during the first part of the campaign, 50% of the produce is absorbed by the north-European market. Quantities are slightly lower than 2015, but the price was slightly higher.” Producer Giovanni Aresta confirms this, as he reports finishing harvesting earlier but being satisfied with the results.
“We managed to supply consumers with high-quality Sicilian grapes with a high Brix level (especially in September and October, when fruit reached 20°). As regards the Italia variety, we obtained that Moscato aftertaste consumers really appreciate. Italian retailers require high-quality aromatic yellow grapes, while the foreign market requires mainly low-residue grapes.”
Source: Fresh Plaza
