Piraccini Treossi Apofruit

Renzo Piraccini and Enzo Treossi have overseen a year of strong growth

The new board of Italian fresh produce cooperative Apofruit Italia, elected by the group's 4,300 members at a meeting on 26 June, has confirmed Enzo Treossi will continue as president for the next three years.

The company also revealed a strong set of figures for 2007, with a 26 per cent increase in turnover to €2.6m. Results for the winter fruit campaign had been 'satisfying', it said.

Mr Treossi, who has been in charge of Apofruit since 1991, will continue to work with Gianluca Balzani and Mirko Zanotti, who were also reconfirmed as vice-presidents of the company.

Apofruit currently runs a total of 11 facilities and six distribution centres across Italy, in Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Basilicata e Sicilia, and employs 160 staff as well as 2,400 seasonal workers. In the past three years, the group has invested a total of €24.6m in new infrastructure and technology.

'I would like to thank everyone for my re-election,' said Mr Treossi. 'I will continue, as always, to work exclusively on behalf of the interests of our member producers. I am more than satisfied, because in 2007 the cooperative achieved excellent results and made a good profit, above all for its winter fruit. These positive results were certainly due to a favourable market, but also thanks to the excellent product handling and shrewd commercial decisions made by our company.'

During 2007, Apofruit handled a total of 248,000 tonnes of fresh produce worth €210m, up on the 196,000 tonnes it handled in the previous 12 months mainly as a result of the incorporation of the Agra-Aiproco cooperative. Net profit reached €1.2m, compared with €676,000 in 2006.

'These positive results are based on the strategies we've carried forward in the past few years, focusing on innovation, efficiency and product quality,' commented Renzo Piraccini, general director of Apofruit. 'Good results for our organic produce have also been achieved thanks to our brand strategies for Almaverde Bio, which remains the market leader.'

Apofruit Italia Average Winter Fruit Prices
Euros Per Kg 2007 (2006)

Kiwifruit0.83(0.45)
Pink Lady Apples0.66(0.57)
Fuji Apples0.52(0.46)
Abate Pears0.71(0.54)
Decana Pears0.72(0.63)
Conference Pears0.53(0.45)
Kaiser Pears0.51(0.44)
Primura Pears0.28(0.31)
Brown Onions0.28(0.19)
Red Onions0.28(0.25)
White Onions0.36(0.16)