very important for the Italian producer and exporter Giuliano Puglia Fruit, especially for seedless grapes, with clients such as TESCO, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer. This is the main reason why the firm attended the first edition of the new London Fresh Show, held between 4 and 6 June.“We have good quality seedless grapes in Italy and sufficient volumes to supply the British market. The seedless grape market is one in constant growth every year, not only in the UK, but also in countries like Germany, Austria or the Netherlands. The grape season for us starts in early June with the Victoria and ends in December, after Christmas, with the ITALIA, Red Globe and Crimson,” explains Filippo Valenzano, export manager of the company.
According to Filippo, most of the Giuliano Puglia’s clients generally prefer the Italian product and only resort to producers in other countries when the Italian fruit is not up to scratch. “In any case, we always do our best to deliver a great quality produce, facing competitors such as Egypt, Greece, Morocco, Spain, Israel or Turkey.”
Filippo says that the company works with export programmes that fully rely on the quality of the fruit, which in turn strongly depends on the weather conditions. “We agree on pre-programmes with our clients which are flexible to changes, but what is sure is that the volumes demanded increase year after year, as they are always satisfied.”
Prospects for the current season are positive, as “we had a good flowering and fertility with different varieties, as well as dry weather conditions. Over the past two years, sustainability has become a very important part of the production process and a priority for the firm,” concludes the export manager.
