Fresh Plaza
This week, the price list of the Vittoria wholesale market shows a quotation of €2.10/kg for plum tomatoes. The previous week, prices were even higher.
Giuseppe Ottone (photo below), nursery gardener and historic plum tomato producer, explained: “Prices are rising in general. In fact, there is less competition coming from Spain and Morocco with respect to January and February. Because of this, there is less supply and prices rise, of course. We also must consider that, during this period, the produce has a better quality, with less cracks and a longer shelf-life.”
“We expect these prices to last during all of April and the first ten days of May. Though, if we compare them with last year, there are no particular surprises.”
During the Winter, not only prices are lower, but there are also more problems because plum tomatoes crack easily. In April and May, the so-called “second campaigns (the second cultivating cycle), plants produce more and there are less problems. “We prefer having two campaigns as producing plum tomatoes in Winter is really difficult: cracking happens a lot.”
According to Giuseppe, this is the ideal period to cultivate plum tomatoes because the taste is better and the shelf-life is longer. This in turn leads to an increase in consumption.
The Ottone commercial farm, located in Acate, 3 km from the sea in Sicily, was founded in 1970 from mr. Giovanni, Giuseppe’s father, and initially it produced tomatoes, peppers and aubergines. “At the moment, I cultivate approximately 3 hectares of plum tomatoes, the Cikito and SV1202TC varieties, in a protected environment and I sell about 360 tons of produce each year.”
“I expect plum tomato production to increase, especially since in the last few years they have become very popular, so the profit for producers was fair. If we consider that cherry tomatoes produced in Sicily do not taste the same as they used to, we can say that plum tomatoes are one of the few products that guarantee the taste, aroma, and sweetness typical of our area.”
Publication date: 4/18/2013
