Press reports from Agrigento in Sicily suggest Canada has agreed to allow imports of the Italian province's PDO-certified Ribera oranges after a hiatus of more than ten years.
According to a report published on the AgrigentoWeb.it site, the first container of Riberella-branded red-fleshed oranges from Ribera departed Italy for Montreal on 8 March.
The produce, which is being supplied by two companies – Biofruit and OP Makeda – is understood to be destined for the Canadian retail sector via an Italo-Canadian importer based in the Quebecois city.
'At last, after many meetings with Canadian commercial players, we have secured export activities to Canada,' confirmed Giuseppe Pasciuta, president of the Sicilian Ribera PDO Oranges Consortium.
'Despite the commercial problems we've experienced this year, the opening of new markets for Riberella oranges – first with Russia and the UK, now with Canada – is a good sign both in terms of the organisational growth of the companies involved as well as the growth in sales of the product in overseas markets,' he added.
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