FreshPlaza visited Rivoira-Kiwi Uno, one of the leading exporters of fruit, to talk with Michelangelo Rivoira about the situation of Italian produce on the main markets
FreshPlaza (FP): How are things going for top fruit, stone fruit and kiwis?
Michelangelo Rivoira (MR): Last year we managed to export 80 thousand tons of produce - 55 thousand of apples, 10 thousand of peaches and nectarines and 15 thousand of kiwis. The export campaign ends in May, but we are thinking about extending it to mid-June in 2016. For exports, we work with Chilean company Unifrutti, which provides us with produce to distribute in Germany and Spain.
FP: How have the Libyan crisis and situation in North Africa affected you?
MR: They caused a great loss. Our group has always exported a lot to Libya and now it is almost impossible to find ships willing to transport the produce over there.
Another very important market was Egypt, with which we have been working for around 30 years. However we were forced to abandon this market too.
For example, one of the provisions of the Central Bank of Egypt was to limit to $50,000 the amount that each client can transfer to its bank account for transfers abroad, therefore practically annulling imports. We are waiting for a lot of money from our clients but they cannot send it to us.
Our government should do something about it.
Then there are other countries like Algeria and Tunisia - they may be potential clients but it is too risky to deal with them.
Another problem is posed by the Russian ban - the fact that the European Union extended its sanctions means we will lose a great market for summer and autumn fruit. I believe Europe should be closer to Russia because it represents a huge market and also because to its proximity to other key exporters like Poland, which floods the markets with its own produce when it cannot ship it to Russia.
FP: Was the €/$ exchange rate positive for the import of counterseasonal products?
MR: Of course. The exchange rate unblocked the situation and lightened the competition with the US for the exports of apples in the Middle and Far East. Had the European Bank taken similar provisions a couple of years ago, we might not have been in this situation.
FP: How much do energy and transportation costs weigh on each ton? What strategies do you implement to optimise costs?
MR: I can only say that our energy costs are double what our French competitors pay and 40% more than what the Spaniards pay. As regards transports, our road network dates back to 50 years ago. In addition, the steep increase in traffic leads to higher costs. Bureaucracy also plays its part.
FP: How is the current peach and nectarine season going?
MR: Exports are going to be difficult, we are hoping for a drop in supply. Of course the weather affects production a lot. We will start with peaches in mid-July. I can't say anything about harvesting because it depends a lot on the weather. We can only hope things don't go like last year. If the situation carries on like this, we won't be able to convince growers to plant new peach orchards.
FP: What about the bacteriosis that is affecting kiwis?
MR: Unfortunately we must live with that. We couldn't fight it, but we can manage it.
FP: Climate change means productions from the South and North of the country are often overlapping. How do you think you can manage these changes?
MR: It actually depends more on the fact that there are increasingly early and late varieties, so these changes can be managed with varietal selection. For example, Spain was once considered important for early varieties, but it now grows peaches that are available after ours.
FP: In addition to your exclusive on apple varieties (Ambrosia, Crimson Snow and others), are you working with other peach or nectarine varieties?
MR: We have some new peach and nectarine varieties, although we are not the sole dealers. They are perfect long-distance transports but it is difficult to convince producers to plant the trees because they do not see a profit in it.
We are working a lot on new apple varieties. Together with 13 partners, Rivoira supported the creation of IFORED, a global consortium for the promotion of innovative red-flesh apples. Italian partners took part as NovaMela, a consortium which gathers Rivoira, Melinda, Vog, Vip and La Trentina.
We believe a lot in this project, because these varieties have unique characteristics.
FP: Can you tell us something about the new warehouse you are building?
MR: It will become operational in August 2016 and it will sort produce automatically in 3 processing areas, thus eliminating the need for internal transport.
