Christmas is one week away, and volumes on the market are starting to rise timidly, in spite of the prospect of a holiday that, due to the high cost of living, will be marked by a general reduction in budgets allocated to food spending.
"With the upcoming holidays, optimism is not lacking on the part of operators, since the commercial trend looks promising anyway. The low purchasing power of households does not seem to discourage sales of exotic and counter-seasonal fruits, for which there is always a surge in orders during the Christmas weeks. Even in the current difficult environment, cherries, lychees and melons rank among the most sought-after items. They have already been so in these last few days," says Francesco Viggiano, sales manager of the fruit and vegetable wholesale Fe.Vi. Frutta, located in Policoro (Matera).
These items are intended for consumers who are looking for a high-quality product and who usually belong to a middle to upper income bracket.
"For example, with cherries from Patagonia, embellished by their curated packaging, we began in early December and will continue until the first decade of January," continues Viggiano. Despite the high prices (about 20 euros/kg), the demand exceeds the supply. We ran out of product in the early morning hours already last week. Consumption is gradually increasing as the holidays approach, to the point that we have scheduled discharges every three days. The concentration of sales occurs in the last two weeks of December, which is between Christmas and New Year."
Lychees and melons from Madagascar and Brazil are being sold in larger quantities due to more affordable prices. "Concerns, however, remain. People are buying, but in smaller volumes than 12 months ago. Shopkeepers and greengrocers have informed us that people prefer to gift fresh fruit for the holidays rather than the classic panettone cakes, which are also much more expensive. All in all, looking at the outgoing merchandise history, we are in line with the same period in 2021, mainly due to the expansion of our customer network."
