CITTÀ DI CASTELLO (Perugia) – What future for tobacco in the Altotiber and Umbria? The topic was at the center of a meeting during which the challenges and prospects of the entire supply chain were discussed. The president of the Region, Donatella Tesei, the mayor Luca Secondi, the president of the Agriculture commission of the Senate, the president of Opta Massimiliano Molinari, the president of Unitab, took part in the debate, entitled “Sustainability, the challenges of tobacco companies”. Massimo Ricci, the EY sustainability leader and professor of Sustainability strategy at Luiss University, Riccardo Giovannini and the corporate affairs & communication director of Jti Italia, Lorenzo Fronteddu.
The event, organized by Opta and Jti Italia, was an opportunity to think about the future of the Umbrian tobacco supply chain, with a focus on the theme of sustainability and on the strategies to be implemented to guarantee the growth of the sector, while reducing its environmental and social impacts on the territory. During the discussion, the best practices of the supply chain consolidated in recent years and the future challenges of the sector were also explored.
As Mayor Secondi recalled, tobacco is “a very important crop for our city and it was therefore a pleasure to be able to host a discussion of this depth, which put the future of the supply chain at the centre”. Thus President Tesei: «We know well the importance that the sector has in our agricultural world and more generally in the Umbrian production world. Since our establishment we have paid great attention to the tobacco supply chain, due to the historical, economic and employment importance it has.” Tobacco, it was reiterated during the meeting, represents one of the strong points of the Italian and Umbrian agricultural economy. The manufacturing companies in the Upper Tiber Valley supply chain, over the years, have been able to combine the most modern agricultural practices with respect for the environment, thus obtaining an excellent product. A fundamental crop within the Region from an economic point of view, therefore, in which it is estimated that over 2 thousand workers are employed in the Upper Tiber area alone.
President Molinari emphasized the fact that «Virginia Bright tobacco coming from Umbria, Veneto, Tuscany and Lazio is a symbol of Made in Italy, an internationally recognized excellence that this supply chain has the potential to make a further leap in quality and we producers are ready to do everything necessary for the sector to continue to grow and prosper by developing in a sustainable way.”
JTI Italia has been supporting the Umbrian tobacco sector for some time now, a company that has been increasingly investing within the supply chain for over 10 years. A long-term commitment by the company, which culminated last year with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture with which the company committed to purchasing up to twenty-four thousand tons of Italian tobacco for the following three years, most of which comes from Umbria. «The agreement signed last year was yet another demonstration of the importance that this territory has for our company – declared the corporate affairs & communication director of Jti Italia, Lorenzo Fronteddu – A long-term project imagined and implemented to guarantee certain and continuous investment prospects for producers”.
