THE ITALIAN BELL PEPPER – TIME FOR THE COMEBACK

Two new varieties presented in Foggia – forecasts for new market trends

(Foggia, 21st November 2006) A congress on 16th November at the Agronomy Faculty of Foggia University entitled Il peperone - Nuove tendenze di coltivazione nell’areale pugliese (The bell pepper – New cultivation trends in the Apulian area), was held by S&G, SOI (Società Orticola Italiana) (the Italian Horticultural Association) and Syngenta Crop Protection, in conjunction with the University of Foggia.

Relaunching the bell pepper involves activities such as marketing cultivars which are suitable for large-scale distributors and underlining its many health related properties for marketing purposes. There are a number of very encouraging developments coming from Italy.

After several rather critical years, in which growers gradually gave up growing bell peppers in open field conditions, due to plant health issues and low profitability, 2007 will see the bell pepper farming sector and its market recover to some extent. This is mainly due to some new varieties and to a series of innovative cultivation techniques.

The changes in techniques used to grow this crop were announced by Michael Sempf, S&G’s Product Business Manager for peppers in EAME (Europe, Africa and the Middle East). “We have conducted specific research on the Italian capsicum”, said Sempf “and have developed a plan that covers both spring greenhouses and the open field. S&G has obtained two new cultivars, for use both in the fresh market and in the processing industry: Collina and Qui, designed for open field cultivation, specifically for the Apulian area”.

Andrea Luca Launeck, S&G Pepper Product Manager for Italy, then provided further details about the two new varieties. “Qui is a brilliant red pepper variety,” he explained, “with thick walls and top fruit weight, which makes it an ideal crop for industrial transformation and also suitable for the fresh market. Collina is a slender yellow pepper variety, which is even more suitable for the fresh market due to its smooth and very thick pulp (it has an average fruit weight of 400 grams) and its very uniform shape.”

There were also some interesting data on the bell pepper situation in Italy and on short-term forecasts, again presented by Andrea L. Launeck. “In the last few years”, he continued, “we have seen a fall in the crop surface area given over to bell peppers in open field conditions, as well as smaller unit sizes of the bell peppers themselves, which has made them easier to sell. The number of companies involved in the distribution process has also fallen, whereas the amount of product used by the processing industry has risen. Even more so, the consumer is on the lookout for ‘local’ varieties and demands a cheaper product. It is very likely that the situation will stabilise in the years to come”.

Large-scale distribution, which today accounts for 40% of bell pepper sales, is also increasing its share in southern Italy, where just a few years ago it had a lower impact. Other factors to consider, at a commercial level, include the increasing consumer demand for healthier, cheaper products, ethnic and exotic products and a greater variety of products, as well as for both ready-cooked and semi-processed goods.

As far as health issues are concerned, the bell pepper’s many qualities can help to satisfy shoppers’ desires: it contains more vitamin C than citrus fruits, it is an excellent way of keeping down blood pressure and, through the action of capsaicin, it boosts anti-tumour defence mechanisms.

Further information on the bell pepper situation in both a European and an international level was provided by Eurostat data and presented once again by Michael Sempf and by Prof. Antonio Elia from the University of Foggia. In Europe, the major importers are Germany (271,000 tonnes), the United Kingdom (111,816 tonnes) and France (102,859 tonnes). The three biggest exporters, on the other hand, are Spain (386,574 tonnes), the Netherlands (279,317 tonnes) and Israel (72,930 tonnes).

Looking in detail, we can see that Spain is focusing on producing “square” bell peppers for the export market and that its grower co-operatives are undergoing mergers. The Netherlands has the best yields (300 tonnes per hectare, under glass) but have to deal with high production costs (1.2 € per kg). In Israel, surface areas given over to bell pepper cultivation have remained stable in recent years, though it has changed its export focus away from the United States and more towards Russia and northern Europe. The situations in Egypt and Morocco are critical, as the poor quality of the product from these two nations constitutes a big gap, and this has been the main reason behind a continuous fall in surface area. Whereas in Turkey, which exports to Germany and Russia, expansion has been held back to a great extent by the limitations in its logistics network.

On a global level (Source: FAO), 1.6 million hectares are given over today to bell pepper production, with no less than 613,000 of those in China alone, followed by Indonesia and Mexico. Italy, with its 14,000 hectares, comes in 20th.

Syngenta Seeeds Vegetables Peppers Today - November 2006