Didonna and Geagri, two of southern Italy’s major fruit producer organisations, have announced they are to form a new company to pack and market fruit.
While the companies are not planning to merge fully, they said the plan was to combine their technical and productive expertise to create Didonna Trade, based in Puglia.
Didonna is one of Puglia’s leading table grape suppliers, while Geagri – part of the Turin-based Battaglio Group – produces a broader range of products including grapes, apricots, clementines and oranges across the southern Italian regions of Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria.
'It's a merger of Geagri and Didonna's packing and commercial activities into Didonna Trade,' director Luca Battaglio told Eurofruit. 'The Di Donna family's relevant production and the two groups' packing [operations] are not included within the confines of this merger, but they are an integral part.'
According to a press release, the primary focus of Didonna Trade will be on developing both companies’ “already substantial” penetration on domestic and international markets.
“The project originates from common values and vision, gathering two important heritages in order to turn them to the future, with the goal to meet the urgency of growth and innovation of always more demanding markets, in terms of both service and quality,” the statement read.
The new venture will make use of warehouses in both Rutigliano and Massafra, using them to manage and pack table grape production – especially seedless – as well as citrus and apricots.
“The focal point will be, above anything else, the shared enthusiasm of the professionalism which are involved in this initiative, which has the ambition to represent a role model for the sector,” the companies added.
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