Italy: Courgette prices on the rise after August drop

The drop in courgette wholesale prices recorded in August seems to have passed. In early August "the…

The drop in courgette wholesale prices recorded in August seems to have passed. In early August "there was so much produce available that we had to sell it at 25/30/40 cents per kg. On 6 and 7 August, the maximum price was 30 cents per kg," explains Nino Leonardi, wholesaler in Verona.

Then things started to improve slowly thanks to the lower availability. We have managed to rise beyond 40, 50 and 60 cents per kg at the end of August.

At the moment, "the basis is always 1€ per kg for the local produce. Courgettes from Sabaudia and Latina are sold at 80/90 cents and those from Ispica and Ragusa reach 70/80 cents. In all the cases we are talking about high-quality produce."

Prices should rise again over the next few days as bad weather will hit production areas. "We will manage to produce less, so there will be less produce available on the market." If demand remains the same, this should lead to higher prices.

Even though wholesale prices rose in the past few weeks, demand was slow. "Consumption is weak, so economic recovery seems far away."