After booming Christmas sales, price increases of up to 15% are expected for dates, almonds and dried figs
The effects of climate change and shipment delays weigh on supplies. For nuts, imports tripled driven by demand from the Muslim population
2' min read
2' min read
The traditional dried fruit platter on Christmas tables will be increasingly expensive. The blame once again lies with climate change, which spares no area of the world and which, whether due to lashing drought or incessant rainfall, is compromising all production. Benedetto Noberasco, purchasing manager of Italy's leading dried and dehydrated fruit company, which has been importing dates from North Africa since 1914, knows this well. This year the company's flagship product, which is often identified with the iconic deglet nour dancer, is secured without major shocks, but a major unknown hangs over next season's supplies due to the torrential rains raging in Tunisia, in the top ten of the world's largest date producers and among the top suppliers in Europe.
"Adverse weather conditions cause serious delays in harvesting operations and logistical processes, with postponements of shipments destined for the European and other international markets," says Pietro Mauro of Fruitimprese. "The fear is that these delays may limit product availability, compromising the ability to fully respond to seasonal demand and to maintain a constant supply over time," he concludes.
"Our supplies are guaranteed," says Noberasco, "but the problem is serious and has a greater impact on organic produce, which lacks defence against excessive fermentation triggered by rain.
According to Onagri (the National Agriculture Observatory), exports of Tunisian dates during the first four months of the 2023/2024 campaign reached 70.3 thousand tonnes, worth €135 million, with an increase of 18.9% in volume and 23.4% in value compared to the same period of the 2022/2023 campaign. In recent months, however, sorting has been more complex, and some operators have reported a few stock breaks.
What will be the consequences of this hiccuping campaign? Noberasco - which expects to close 2024 with a turnover of between 90 and 100 million euro - has no doubts: 'From next year, price increases in the order of 5% and more fermented qualities.
