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News

Italy: ethical marketing and questions about quantities

12/03/2021 - François-Xavier Branthôme - Lire en français

The Megamark group opposes illegal employment

An industry sector certified as opposed to the “caporalato” form of illegal employment now offers seven references of processed tomato products, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, all under the “IAMME-No Cap” brand, at the initiative of the Megamark supermarket chain. This scheme was described in early February by its managing director Francesco Pomarico, during the Forum of the CDO Agroalimentare (Compagnia delle Opere Agroalimentare = Company of Agri-food Operators). IAMME is the name of a line of ethical products grown and harvested in compliance with basic workers' rights, in opposition to the caporalato. IAMME is a Neapolitan expression, but which is known from North to South as an exhortation to “do something”, to “move” – a way of saying: “Come on, guys!”

Megamark operates in the South of Italy, mainly in Apulia, Molise, Basilicata, Campania and Calabria. The chain operates around 500 retail locations, with a turnover of around EUR 2 billion in 2020. “We have created this certified sector, explained Francesco Pomarico, to fight in practical ways against the scourge of the mafia. We met Yvan Sagnet, a young black immigrant at the forefront of the fight against this type of exploitation, and we decided to join him in his struggle.”

The Megamark Group is committed to purchasing ethical agricultural products guaranteed by the NoCap logo (= “no caporalato”), which is granted to farms and processing companies that follow specific checks carried out by inspectors from the NoCap association and, subsequently, by the DQA certification agency accredited by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Accredia organization.
Francesco Pomarico also insisted on the major difference to be made between a distributor like Megamark and discount stores. “In Apulia, discount retailers have developed, in large part thanks to the crisis caused by the pandemic. But the difference between us and them is the same as the difference between a simple sandwich shop and a classy restaurant. Our group works alongside about one hundred pasta factories and 25 dairy plants. In contrast, discounters are not so numerous and their only goal is to offer products at the lowest possible prices.”

During the same Forum session, Benedetto Linguerri, of the Local to You retail scheme (which now registers 6,000 customers in the province of Bologna), also spoke up. He stated that production is organized in such a way that the products of local companies reach the consumer within just a few hours. “30% of these products, said Linguerri, are produced within the area of the Bolognese Apennines. This allows companies to increase their revenue and continue to protect the territories in which they operate.”

The “Filiera Legale” [Legal Industry] project
The struggle against illegal employment is also a subject of major concern for the Anicav, which has taken specific action by participating in various initiatives, “including joining as a partner of the 'Fi.Le.– Filiera Legale' project; this project promotes legal practices in the tomato industry in the province of Foggia through a platform that helps to provide law enforcement with information for controlling the legality of the sector, and guarantees operators a form of telematic management of job offers and associated transport services,” explained Giovanni De Angelis.” (See additional information).

Does the demand for tomato products exceed available volumes?
The start of the year was also a period of uncertainty in terms of quantities for Italian processors, just at a time when programming efforts for the 2021 campaign were getting underway.

While the results of domestic consumption have confirmed the positive dynamics with an increase in sales as of 30 September 2020 of 9.7% in volume and 16.4% in value throughout the various distribution channels (hyper-, super-markets, self-service and discount outlets) compared to the same period of the previous year (Iri data), and despite a context generally described as encouraging by the various players at all levels of the sector, some company managers advocate caution: “With a 10% growth in turnover, we ended 2020 on a positive note, despite the difficulties of the period and the critical challenges that this particular tomato processing season had in store for us. In the South-Central region of Italy, insufficient volumes being processed last year and the lack of available inventory had a cascading effect in the context of an exceptional increase in demand, which today exceeds what was contracted with the large retail chains. In summary, the demand for tomato products exceeds the quantities currently available,” warned Enzo Perano, Managing Director of Campania Perano Enrico & Figli.

“It is true that the summer 2020 season ended overall with a significant increase (+8% compared to 2019) in the quantities delivered to the national processing industry. However, these percentages refer to certain regions in the North of the country where high yields have been recorded, while in the South of Italy (Apulia and Campania), for various reasons, the sector was affected not only by the persistence of high temperatures at the end of July (which made tomatoes ripen in a grouped pattern) but also by the scarcity of water resources.”

For the company Perano Enrico & Figli, which processes annual volumes of around 80,000 tonnes, 2021 and the post-Covid-19 period will be marked by major changes, which must encourage the industry to take up the new challenges arising from the growing generalization of new purchasing channels, in particular, linked to new forms of work organization.

Some additional data:
- Dipartimento Qualita Agroalimentare: http://www.dqacertificazioni.it/dipartimento_qualita_agroalimentare.html
- Accredia: https://www.accredia.it/
- Fi.Le. – Filiera Legale: https://filieralegale.it/home/il-progetto/ & https://filieralegale.it/home/notizie-e-media/

Sources: freshplaza.it, liberidiscegliere.eu

Related companies

ANICAV

Professional or non-profit organisation See details

ENRICO PERANO & FIGLIO SpA

Tomato processor See details

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