The start for the campaign of onions produced by members of Cesac (Centro Economico Servizi Agricoli - Economic Agricultural Services Centre) is successful. This cooperative of Conselice (RA) is a leader in this domain, with 10% of the whole national harvest and 63% of the production obtained in the district of Bologna. This area, where the valuable ‘Cipolla di Medicina’ Onion is cultivated, is especially suitable. It spreads over a total area of 700-800 hectares in 6 municipalities in the province.
The first marketing stage, which began in June a little more of a week after the beginning of conveyance of the product, showed very encouraging results. As a matter of fact, prices positioned on higher values than the ones recorded in the same period of last year, and the retail has acquired a considerable share of the product since the start of the marketing campaign. This favourable trend is also enhanced by the drop in production recorded in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, Argentina, India and Mexico), which caused a shortage of onions in the international market and has therefore pushed up both demand and prices of Italian product. In light of these factors, this year the marketing certainly seems more satisfying than 2014.
Andraghetti states: ‘In order to ensure the best economic results to our members, we are actively engaged in the search for new markets for our onions. This is extremely important goal in light of the Russian embargo concerning food products in force since last August and recently extended for another year. In this regard, CESAC looks with great interest at such geographic areas that record a significant economic development as the Middle East (particularly Dubai) and the Far East, but also South America, where the demand for vegetables is showing a quick and steady growth’. The president concludes: ‘At the same time, we are developing new contacts with important Indian operators in order to start the supply of peeled onions in that Country, which appreciates the high quality of our product as well as services offered by our cooperative’.
Cesac is one of the most active companies in the agricultural field in Emilia-Romagna region. It boasts a strong position in the domains of cereal, fruit, wine, animal feed and distribution. The cooperative develops a turnover of over 56 million Euros and has 200 employees, 1,300 partners and a production of over 120,000 tonnes, divided as follows: 70,000 tonnes of cereals, 45,000 of vegetables, of which 24,000 potatoes and 21,000 onions, and 6,000 of grapes. Thanks to the recent agreement with ‘Consorzio dei Partecipanti’ Consortium of San Giovanni in Persiceto (Bo), this year the conveyance of cereals will increase from 70,000 to 100,000 tonnes, consisting of 33,000 tonnes of durum wheat, 20,000 wheat, 20,000 corn, 16,000 sorghum, 3,000 soybean, 2,000 barley, 600 other cereals. The factories are 9, in the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna.
