Italian kiwifruit supply is expected to fall by 20 per cent this season, which will kick off next month.
Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO) figures show that production is down in some of the main production areas of Emilia Romagna (-38 per cent), Piedmont (-35 per cent), Veneto (-18 per cent), while production from Lazio is steady.
Across the country, kiwifruit orchards in full production have reached 23,200 hectares, up 1.1 per cent on last year.
IKO figures show that Italy is not alone in the slump, with Spanish production set to fall by 17 per cent, Greek by 15 per cent and French by 13 per cent. On the other hand, California supply will rise by 14 per cent.
Total European sendings of European kiwifruit to the UK reached 15,886 tonnes in 2009-10, down from 18,467t in 2008-09.
Alessandro Fornari from Italian firm Kiwigold said: “We have to look forwards and go onwards. We need to look for new strategies - everyone talk about increasing consumption, but each country is different.
“When we have full production, the European market cannot consume it all. The question is, how can we find the right strategy to open new markets? If we could co-ordinate more, we could do this better.”
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