The sale of greenhouse potatoes has just started. February and March is when broccoli commercialization peaks. Spain and Morocco are the main competitors. We talked about it with an operator from Puglia.
"We have just started commercializing the first limited volumes of greenhouse potatoes from the Lecce province. The open field new potato campaign should start in April. We also process broccoli, cauliflowers and fennel (Foggia), artichokes (Lecce), tomatoes and rocket. Parsley, dill, scarole and lettuce come from Polignano-Monopoli. Strawberries from Metaponto are also available," explains Francesco Romano, manager at Ro.Gr.An.
Considering the European situation, Romano states that the potato campaign should be positive. "Considering the old stock and low availability of foreign produce, the Italian season should be good. The price of new potatoes from Cyprus is high, so we have high hopes for the domestic produce. While we wait for new potatoes from Puglia and Sicily to become available, produce from Morocco is also available."
As for broccoli and cauliflowers, there were no problems caused by the weather or low temperatures in Puglia. "Our broccoli are very competitive with respect to the Spanish produce. This is the moment when consumption is high - we manage to process satisfactory volumes between February and March. The situation is better than last year."
"We started selling Rociera strawberries from the Metaponto-Policoro area 15 days ago. At the moment, demand is high and it looks like Italian and Spanish quantities are not enough to meet demand."
Spain and Morocco remain the leading competitors, the latter especially when it comes to tomatoes. Egypt is trying to establish itself on the Italian markets. Prices remain stable and not too high. "Morocco is pushing but Italian quality is still better. We must say competition would not be a great problem, if the origins of a product were clearly stated."
