Premium vegetables enhance brands: +33% for Valfrutta Fresco

The year 2025 was a very positive one for Valfrutta Fresco, the Alegra Group's 'fruit and vegetable ideas and innovation laboratory', which in 12 months increased volumes by 38% and turnover by 33%, reaching a turnover of EUR 30.2 million.

an important result, obtained thanks to greater group synergies and various growth drivers, and which concerned both our brand and the private labels we produce," explains Enrico Bucchi, general manager of Valfrutta Fresco and deputy general manager of Alegra. "On the Valfrutta Fresco side, we repositioned the brand in the accessible premium segment, strengthened some of our core projects (such as the Cornelio pepper) and boosted strategic species, such as tomatoes and peppers, which represent 36% of our turnover. On the large-scale retail trade side, we expanded our customer base in organised distribution, opening new commercial relationships, and strengthened partnerships for the development of structured premium private label lines.

The year 2026 opened with other projects on which the Romagna group is betting decisively. The first is Ulisse, a newly conceived tomato that renews and relaunches the smooth round with a berry with an intense flavour, unexpected and stable over time. A niche product obtained in greenhouses in suitable areas of Sicily, available from January to May (but in tests in other areas to extend production until June), which has taken eight years of work in close collaboration with thebreeder Unigen Seeds and the farmers of the Piano Stella Cooperative, according to the supply chain approach that characterises the company.

"Valfrutta Fresco develops all-round premium projects, capable of guaranteeing constant quality, service and commercial opportunities with the primary objective of enhancing the products of our members," adds Bucchi. "To our retail partners we offer concrete tools and continuous collaboration to build assortments, strategies and supply chain projects capable of speaking to the end consumer. Confirmation of this comes from Ulisse, with which we are once again raising the bar for tomatoes, a product that is part of our DNA, given that we were among the first to propose segmentation in the high-end range'.

Another novelty that has already arrived on the shelves of the large-scale retail trade is Dulcis, the green kiwi fruit that will have its first significant campaign this year with a production that has tripled compared to the last harvest. A fine result for a fruit that is going through a very difficult phase. For decades Italy's pride and joy, for some years now kiwi growing has been seriously endangered by climatic and phytopathological adversities. In order to save the green kiwi, the Alegra Group has teamed up with the breeder New Plant and two other key players in the cooperative world of Romagna (Apofruit Italia and Orogel Fresco) by launching this 100% Italian project, from development to production to marketing.
In fact, Dulcis is not only a specific variety, which gives a very soft and juicy kiwi, but also a control system that ensures the right balance between sweetness and acidity. Cultivated on 457 hectares, today Dulcis is worth 20,000 quintals, but the aim is to increase this to 100,000 quintals by 2028.