Category: Fruits

The Calabrian Kiwi

5.9.2019

A local consortium, the OP TOC – in Italian “Calabresi Ortofrutticole Traditions – of Reggio Calabria” has started in 2019 the process for the recognition of the geographic indication protection (so-called IGP in Italian) of the Kiwi of Gioia Tauro Gulf, produced in the municipalities that fall within the Gulf of Gioia Tauro, enhancing the Made in Calabria fruits.

The Italians and foreigners unfortunately do not know the Calabrian kiwi, even though many hectares are dedicated to this crop in our region and the organoleptic qualities of the product are truly distinctive.

Mature Kiwi

Now, the afore mentioned consortium brings together ten cooperatives for over 500 members and about three thousand hectares of crops, and strives to achieve the goal of promoting this delicious and hypervitaminic fruit.

PLACE AND HISTORY

The first kiwi plant dates back to 1978: in a land mainly devoted to citrus cultivation, the first hectare of actinidia (the botanic name of the plant of Kiwi) began to take shape, an experiment that it was successful. At a distance of forty years, the cultivation of kiwifruit has reached important levels and Calabrian range has proved to be suitable for the scope.

Kiwi juice

The climatic and soil conditions favor the quality of the kiwi, as well as the proximity to the Stromboli Volcano. Farmers can harvest from the beginning of October until December or January: not having the problem of frost, they can leave the fruit longer on the plant, allowing it to reach high organoleptic standards.

FEATURES

The afore mentioned IGP protection focused on the organic features of Kiwi, and the IGP Calabrian farmers of Reggio Calabria want to communicate the wonderful properties of this fruit  the large-scale retail trade and to the consumers.

Indeed, Calabrian Kiwi is a superfood, rich in Vitamin C and produced in Italy, with many controls over quality, thus giving a fruit better than many other products that arrive from abroad.

A beautiful table decoration

Main efforts, now, are conducted to enhance the kiwi and avoid situations in which the fruits are sold at low cost and presented with little decorum. The chains of Supermarkets can guarantee the consumer’s turnout sells this Kiwi at very low prices, but this then it goes to the detriment of the real quality of the fruit and the final purchaser.

Therefore, farmers believe it is better to protect the producers and consumers, selling Calabrian Kiwi, not only in large scale Malls, but also in specialized shops, because Italian quality must be guaranteed and valued.

A boom of Exotic fruits in Calabria

28.8.2019

With climate change, the first Made in Italy mango and avocado crops come along with many other exotic consumer products, familiar such as bananas or lesser-known specialties such as black zapote (also said sapodilla).

This is what emerges from the first Coldiretti study, entitled “Italian Tropical Fruits” presented at the opening of the Coldiretti peasant village in Milan at Castello Sforzesco, from Piazza del Cannone to Piazza Castello, with the presence of over ten thousand farmers.

Avocado

TROPICAL FRUITS OF CALABRIA

Here are the products grown on our land, Calabria! We have these Calabrian tropical crops:

  • Mango
  • Avocado
  • Passion Fruit
  • Thai Aubergine (Thai variant of our aubergine)
  • Macadamia (a dried fruit halfway between almond and hazelnut)

Further, the land of Calabria hosts even Sugar Cane, while the Annona, another fruit typical of the countries of South America is now widespread along the coasts so much that it is also used to produce jam.

Annona

THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

That of the Made in Italy tropical fruit – underlines Coldiretti – is an exploded phenomenon due to the effects of overheating determined by climate changes and it is destined to profoundly change consumer behavior in the coming years, but also the productive choices of the same farms . This is demonstrated by the fact that cultivation has gone from a few hectares planted with tropical fruits to over 500 hectares with an increase of 60 times in just five years.

Passion Fruit

Nearby regions are in the same situation. In Sicily – explains Coldiretti – there are hectares and hectares cultivated with avocado and mango crops of different varieties, in the countryside between Messina, Etna and Acireale, but also with passion fruit, black zapote (similar to persimmon, of Mexican origin), and litchi, the small Chinese fruit that recalls the Muscat grape.

AN ENTIRELY NEW MARKET

All thanks to the commitment of young farmers – recalls Coldiretti – who have chosen this type of cultivation, often recovering and revitalizing abandoned lands precisely because of climate changes, previously destined for the production of oranges and lemons.

Thai Eggplant

A market segment that is growing dramatically, considering that over six Italians out of 10 (61%) would buy bananas, mangos, Italian avocados, if they had them available instead of foreign ones, according to a Coldiretti survey released for the occasion.

71% of citizens would also be willing to pay more for the guarantee of the national origin of the tropical. A choice motivated by the greater degree of freshness but also by the fact that Italy – specifies Coldiretti – is at the top of world food security with the lowest number of food products with irregular chemical residues (0.8%), lower than 1, 6 times the European Union average (1.3%) and 7 times that of non-EU countries (5.5%).

Sugar Cane

Conclusively, the phenomenon of exotic Italian fruit, driven by the commitment of so many young farmers, is an example of the innovation capacity of Italian agricultural companies in the fruit and vegetable sector. This sector too often is however hampered by an organizational, infrastructural and diplomatic delay that has prevented the Italy to engage the recovery in demand abroad, with a collapse in fresh fruit and vegetables exported in 2018 of 11% in quantity and 7% in value, compared to the previous year.

President of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini underlined, therefore, the need to guarantee “efficient transport on the railway line and airport hubs for goods that allow us to bring our products quickly from north to south of the country and then to every corner of Europe and the world“.