The Italian fresh produce sector is mourning the untimely death of Nando Bonomo, chief executive officer of Sicilian citrus specialist Gruppo Bonomo and president of the 3Moretti marketing cooperative, who died last week of a heart attack.

Mr Bonomo, 42, was a leading light of the Italian fruit trade, turning his family's Catania-based business into one of Sicily's largest citrus producer-marketers with a turnover of some €40m and export markets worldwide.

Since the 1990s, Mr Bonomo had developed strong trade links with the supermarket sector both at home and abroad, overseeing the certification of more than 200ha of citrus production under the EurepGAP scheme as well as becoming a key supplier of PGI-branded fruit.

In recent years, he helped the company to diversify its portfolio, most notably into peach production. As well as citrus including red-fleshed oranges, Navels, Valencias and lemons, the company also markets a range of other products, including tomatoes grown in Pachino.

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