Following an earlier announcement regarding this season's increase in berry production in the Italian region of Trentino, the region's leading exporter Sant'Orsola has confirmed it expects to achieve positive results for this year's campaign.
According to the company, the first eight months of the 2009 marketing period have gone well, with more than 5,600 tonnes of soft fruit including strawberries and late cherries sold to date – 6.75 per cent above the volume sold by the same point in 2008.
Thanks to cold weather conditions and a sunny spring, fruit grown by the cooperative's 1,200 members has developed perfectly, the company said, with a higher quality and bigger volume (more than 5,000 tonnes, 18 per cent up on last year) harvested between January and August.
'Although 2009 has been defined as a year of crisis for the fresh produce sector, we are having a positive season,' commented Michele Scrinzi, general director of Sant'Orsola.
'Two factors have enabled is to maintain our market position: soft fruits fit in with modern consumption trends, and consumers don't want to give up things they believe in.'
According to new research referenced by the cooperative, the Sant'Orsola brand now boasts a brand awareness among consumers of 30 per cent.
This year, the number of Sant'Orsola's member producers obtaining GlobalGAP certification leapt from 320 to 850. By the end of the year, around 95 per cent of the group's growers are expected to have attained the certificate.
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