How Ferrovia Cherry Prices Gap Proves Rising Energy Cost Challenge

In the Apulian countryside, which represents 35% of the Italian cherry production, Ferrovia cherries farmgate prices are around EUR 1.80/kg (USD 1.87/kg), while retail prices are skyrocketing up to 10 times more to EUR 18.00/kg (USD 18.73/kg) registered in a fruit shop in Milan.
The gap between farmgate and retail prices is largely due to increased gasoline and diesel fuel costs, which are heavily affecting producers. The producers are faced with a price increase in energy from EUR 0.06/kilowatt in 2021 to EUR 0.30/kilowatt in 2022. It is though advantaging cherries importing countries mostly from Turkey, Greece, and Spain.