In the space of a week, from short-sleeved t-shirts in Rome, we moved on to taking the coat back from the wardrobe. And the sudden return of the cold is translating – and will translate in the coming months – into higher prices at the supermarket. Consumers are noticing this, and even the farmers of the Roman countryside know it well, with hundreds of hectares of fruit trees devastated by bad weather and who already know how much more difficult it will be to find local products in shopping carts. The sudden alternation of heat and cold is hurting production. And once again all the fans of zero kilometer products will pay the price.
THE SITUATION
The famous cherries of Palombara Sabina and Moricone were hit, but also the vines, apricots and peach trees. A critical situation that led Coldiretti Rome to ask the mayors of the Eastern area to take action to start the procedures to request the state of natural disaster. Above all, the productions of Palombara, Moricone, Monterotondo and Montelibretti are on their knees. According to growers, this situation will cause a decline in production and therefore an increase in retail prices.
THE COUNT
In recent days, the damage caused by frost and sudden hailstorms is being counted in the countryside of the capital. Consumers will soon notice how buying local cherries could cost at least 20% more due to this sudden collapse in the weather.
PROBLEMS
“Low temperatures will slow down the development of vegetables such as asparagus and the ripening of strawberries – they say from Coldiretti – Problems that even those who have sown corn or should do so will have” because the wet soil could lead growers to slow down or postpone processing. «The bees that venture out of the hives and are killed by the cold are also at risk – they add from Coldiretti – Also of concern is the concrete possibility that the sudden waves of late night frosts could burn, if they occur, flowers and buds of plants and trees, with serious effects on future harvests.”
CRITICALITIES
This situation adds to the already critical ones of the other losses in Lazio which have been recorded in the last period and which concerned the oil sector (-60%) and the wine sector (from -20% to -90%), the chestnut sector (with production reaching drops of up to -90%) and honey (a drop of -40% with peaks reaching -100%).
MARKET
According to the Observatory of the Agri-food Center of Rome, April was characterized by a decline in consumption of fruit and vegetable products. Although the numbers have not been positive, there is always a bit of confidence. The increase in tourist presences in the city between now and the May 1st holiday could lead to a timid recovery in purchases and, therefore, bring purchased volumes back up. At the counter, in the meantime, there was an increase in prices for asparagus (+25%) and strawberries (+30%).
The first typical summer products are arriving at Car (such as melons from Sicily), but there is also no shortage of more winter fruit varieties, such as oranges, which will remain on the market throughout May, with prices falling. The prices of courgettes (sensitive to temperature changes), peppers and aubergines are rising.
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