November 26 2007, 08:48

Sharp price increase for champignons and hazelnut in Italy

Champignon and hazelnut production reduced almost twofold in Italy in 2007 - as a result, the prices for these products have dramatically increased, FreshPlaza.com portal, the official informational sponsor of the fourth international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2007. Meeting New Leader" informs.

Prices for champignon reach EUR 3-4/kg in Italy now. The volume of Italian champignon market reaches EUR 600 mln./year. The declined production released a market share, so that the suppliers from Poland and other countries of Eastern Europe and Northern Africa are actively competing for the opportunity to occupy it now.

Hazelnut production reduced as a result of too heavy rainfalls in spring and a long period of drought in summer. Moreover, Mediterranean fruit-fly seriously damaged nuts orchards, after European Union banned the application of some traditional chemical protection assets. So, the prices for Italian hazelnut reach the record level of EUR 3.4-3.6/kg, sometimes up to EUR 4/kg. There is also information that in some cases Italian suppliers sell Turkish, Bulgarian, Hungarian and even Californian hazelnut as Italian product.

We'd like to remind that all producers interested in nuts production in Ukraine are gathering in Kyiv in the beginning of 2008 in order to discuss the perspectives of this business in our country.

"Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" decided to conduct the first international forum "Perspective trends of fruit & vegetable business 2008: Commercial nuts orchards" on the 31st of January 2008 in the framework of "Interagro" exhibition in Kyiv. The following topics are to be discussed in the framework of this forum:

- Which types of nuts may be successfully produced in Ukraine?

- Regions of Ukraine with the greatest potential for nuts production.

- Cost of nuts orchard establishment and estimation of investment profitability.

- Nuts sales channels - what is the capacity of Ukrainian market?

- Technologies of nuts cultivation - from production to processing.

- Where to buy and how to choose nuts seedlings?

The application form for participation in the forum is here. First 20 registered companies will have 25% discount of participant's fee.