Brio expands Alce Nero’s organic range for large-scale retail: PGI Clementines from Calabria and PGI Syracuse Lemon

Brio, a company belonging to the Alegra Group specialising in organic fruit and vegetables and Alce Nero’s partner for fresh first-range products, has expanded its citrus offering with the launch of PGI Clementines from Calabria and PGI Syracuse Lemon under the Alce Nero brand.

The first supplies reached the national large-scale retail channel in the first days of November, while from December the PGI Blood Orange from Sicily, successfully introduced during the previous commercial campaign, will also be available again.

The enhancement project

The expansion of the range is part of a project to enhance the Alegra Group’s production chains in Calabria and Sicily, but it also responds to a precise commercial objective: leveraging the recognisability of PGI products to bring new consumers closer to organic produce. Brio’s proposal to distributors is to enhance these products within their respective product categories as well, going beyond the spaces traditionally reserved for organic products. An approach aimed at reaching not only those who regularly buy organic products, but also those seeking certified origin, distinctive character and a link with the local area.

The comment

“The growth figures for organic fruit and vegetable consumption are certainly positive, but we are convinced that there is still considerable room for expansion: to increase the category’s penetration in Italian shoppers’ baskets, we must also manage to speak to those who do not currently regularly choose organic fruit and vegetables,” explains Mauro Laghi, Brio’s Italy sales manager. “We cannot expect to develop consumption by always addressing the same audience and only that audience. With this range, we start from the recognised value of PGI products, their origin and their link with the local area, to which we add the guarantees of organic certification. For consumers, this means having one more reason to choose these products; for distributors, on the other hand, it means being able to enrich their assortment with distinctive products capable of meeting different purchasing motivations.”

A long-term undertaking

The project is based on several years of work carried out by Brio together with the cooperatives and farms of the Alegra Group to develop and consolidate organic production in the most suitable growing areas. This process has made it possible to build an organised production base capable of supporting structured commercial programmes.

“We can rely on well-established, long-standing relationships with our producers,” continues Laghi. “This is essential for offering large-scale retail continuity of supply, reliability and the possibility of planning. In addition, there is a further added value: today Brio is the only organisation offering a range of organic IGP citrus fruits brought together under a single brand, recognised and appreciated by consumers as Alce Nero.”

The three organic PGI excellences

The first protagonist of the new campaign is PGI Syracuse Lemon, supplies of which began on 2 November: “The project involves four packing centres bringing together cooperatives and farms in the Syracuse area that are long-standing partners of the Alegra Group, covering a total production area of 660 hectares,” explains Brio’s Italy sales manager, Alessandro Stagnoli. “It provides for year-round planning, thanks to the alternation of the different flowering periods recognised by the PGI specification. The product is offered in controlled-weight packs of 400 and 500 g. Deliveries of PGI Clementines from Calabria also began during the same period; they are available until January in formats of 750 g and 1 kg. The production comes from members of Agrintesa and the Op Apo Conerpo operating in Calabria, who have more than 65 hectares of citrus groves, whose fruit is processed and packed at the cooperative’s facility in Castrovillari.”

Completing the offering from the second half of December will be the PGI Blood Orange from Sicily, returning to the Alce Nero range after the positive response it received last season. This confirms the project’s aim of building, over time, a recognisable range of organic citrus fruits with protected geographical indication.

“The challenge is to turn the value of these products into a concrete opportunity for the entire supply chain,” concludes Stagnoli. “Distributors can differentiate their offering and attract new purchases, while producers can rely on additional opportunities to enhance their products. It is in this balance that we see the growth prospects for the project and, more generally, for organic produce in the fruit and vegetable department.”

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.