AgriMessina was founded in 1960 by Francesco Messina with the goal of exporting fruit from Apulia all over the world. Grapes were soon emphasised, and in recent years this emphasis shifted to seedless varieties. “Demand for seedless grapes from Italy is booming, but productions are also increasing. There has been more competition in recent years,” Berardi says.
The company has a cultivation area of 300 hectares of grapes in Italy, and is also farming grapes in Greece. A small part of the area is dedicated to the cultivation of organic grapes. The grapes of AgriMessina mainly find their way to retailers in the UK, Germany, Central Europe and Scandinavia.
“We have staked much on new varieties such as SNFL, amongst other things, and that is paying off. We hope to realise a further, healthy growth in the coming years, but we hope to do so step by step, and not too quickly. We are facing the coming season with confidence. We are hoping for a repeat of last year, when we had a good market situation with decent prices.”
