Tropical fruits made in Italy: Production is growing, but it is still very limited

A limited and still unstructured offer. The beautiful narrative of Made in Italy tropical fruit growing is shattered by the numbers: sufficient to satisfy a niche online market and - for limited periods of the year - the premium segment of the shelves of large-scale organized distribution is absolutely below the demands of a a rapidly growing market, so much so that it has sparked the interest of investors and funds. «In the South, climate change, Spanish competition and plant diseases have put traditional crops such as citrus fruits in crisis – declares Raffaella Orsero, vice-president and CEO of the only Italian fruit and vegetable group listed on the stock exchange – favoring the migration towards products considered more profitable such as tropical fruits, but the system is not yet structured to handle large numbers: too fragmented, artisanal and based on small plots". Added to this is the limited harvest period - two, four months at most - which leaves ample margins for the ...