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The Italian fresh produce sector is this morning coming to terms with the untimely death of Luciano Zani, the 76 year-old owner and founding director of Italian fresh produce company Granfrutta Zani, who has died following a fatal car accident near Russi, in the Province of Ravenna.

According to local press reports, Mr Zani's car was involved in a head on collision with another car.

Mr Zani was one of the Italian fresh fruit and vegetable sector's leading entrepreneurs, establishing Granfrutta Zani as a cooperative of around 100 hundred local producers in 1972 and helping it become a major producer organisation with customers and markets across the globe.

Having started out as a private trader working out of a single warehouse inGranarolo Faentino near Faenza in Emilia Romagna, MrZani achieved remarkable turnover growth in a short space of time as a result of its links with an increasing number of associate producers from all over Italy.

The cooperative subsquently extended its activities to other warehouses, before purchasing its first packhouse facility in San Andrea di Faenza in 1992 and a second one in Bagnacavallo.

In 1996, Granfrutta Zani was officially recognised as a producer organisation, gaining certification guaranteeing its fullcompliance with European legislation.