The pear revival process has started. UNAPera was set up in Ferrara on Thursday 29 July, a limited liability consortium company between 25 companies - 13 producer organizations and 12 not producer organizations - which represent over 70% of the pears marketed on the Italian market in the last three years and more than 55% of the national export of this fruit. It starts from Emilia-Romagna - cradle of Italian periculture, where the cultivation of this fruit is worth 35% of the fruit and involves 15 thousand employees - a project that is unprecedented in the history of fruit growing in our country. A project that aims to deal with the development of quality on all the pears of the partners through the definition of common standards and collective control that allows them to be placed on the market managed by UNAPera, while the sale will remain in the hands of the individual member companies. A real organizational revolution, which aims to increase the quality of the perilous offer, win back consumers and return to give profitability to producers. In all this, territoriality plays a central role, with the production of the Emilia-Romagna PGI Pear which will be developed to reach 35% of the surface of the reference area over the next three years.

UNAPera presented itself this morning in a workshop broadcast by CSO Italy, where the president Paolo Bruni moderated the meeting with Adriano Aldrovandi (president of Aop UNAPera), Mauro Grossi (deputy vice president), Roberto Della Casa (project manager), Luigi Mazzoni (councilor of the Aop UNAPera), Alessandro Zampagna (coordinator of the constituent committee of Aop UNAPera), Giampaolo Nasi (coordinator of the Aop UNAPera commercial committee) and the regional councilor for agriculture of Emilia-Romagna, Alessio Mammi.

"On 8 July 2020 we met at the CSO with the president Stefano Bonaccini and the councilor Alessio Mammi to discuss, together with the production world, the serious problems that gripped the pear sector: Asian bedbugs, brown spots, frosts ... But instead talking only about the problems, we have tried to plan a great path to enhance the PGI Emilia-Romagna Pear - recalls Paolo Bruni - And today we are here to present UNAPera, born thanks to the great commitment of all the actors: without emphasis and without rhetoric , it is truly unprecedented news in the history of the fruit and vegetable sector ".

"We are 25 companies that have been enhancing the pear product for years, but have now decided to do it together - comments the president of UNAPera, Adriano Aldrovandi - The establishment of the new company is the first step to develop the Aop and from next week the recognition process. It is a project of national importance but with a strong link with the territory, it is an open project and in fact we plan to involve other realities in the coming months. We want to guarantee the future of periculture in Emilia-Romagna and neighboring areas by thinking of the entire supply chain, from production to marketing, to all related industries. The goal is to raise the quality of pears for consumption, accompanying it with a new approach to the market capable of qualifying and segmenting the offer ".

"Pears lost 24% of consumption between 2016 and 2020 - recalls Roberto Della Casa, head of the UNAPera project - A decrease largely due to the inconstancy of the quality of the fruits on the market. Pears are difficult to grow and in recent years they have been hit by various adversities, but when the quality is not constant, consumers become disaffected. 62% of Italians, according to the Agroter Fruit and Vegetable Monitor surveys, complain of a too variable quality; but the good news is that 29% of our compatriots have their favorite fruit in the pear. To relaunch the pear product, program agreements on the commercial and marketing front are necessary with modern distribution companies and the reference wholesalers: without a development program, pears risk becoming a marginal product. UNAPera is the result of an innovative aggregation process and is also unique in the sector: it is in fact the first fruit and vegetable Aop in Italy that concentrates the offer and places it on the market with the development of agreements and contracts with retail terminal operators. , leaving the billing of the product to the shareholders, as required by the Omnibus Regulation of the European Union. The IGP has a fundamental role, it is an extraordinary element of aggregation between the production and distribution system; chains seek distinctiveness and the protected geographical indication product can be a premium offer to the consumer. Pear is a fruit with great nutritional benefits and unique taste characteristics, so much so that it can be counted among gourmet products. With the plan to improve commercial quality standards, all the conditions are met to make the pear market grow towards new successes ".

The Aop project dedicated to pear is supported by the Emilia-Romagna Region. "We are faced with a historic initiative capable of holding together the entire pericultural production system - says the councilor for agriculture and agri-food Alessio Mammi - We are aware of the difficulties affecting the sector, from those of the market to the margins of companies, passing through the devastating effects of climate change: but let's start from this awareness knowing that it is appropriate to react and try new paths. Periculture is an essential sector for Emilia-Romagna and we will do everything to support it, there are economic and social reasons, jobs at stake, but also historical, identity and cultural reasons. The UNAPera project is the best answer to the difficulties, we need to face emergencies and have a strategic vision: the demand for fruit and vegetables will grow at European level and we certainly cannot afford to lose the production of pears. This is why it is important to focus on increasing quality and aggregating the offer, with the aim of doing well together ".

"It is a project that in terms of depth and size is unmatched in the sector: previous attempts at aggregation have been commendable but insufficient, we seek maximum cohesion and maximum involvement - says Mauro Grossi - We do not have the presumption of having achieved the goal and wanting to do everything on our own, feeling self-sufficient. Far from it. The new entity is open to the supply chain, including from neighboring regions; as well as to civil society, given the importance of the danger sector for our territory ".

"Territoriality is a topic that will help us derive greater value from production, because consumers, we are seeing this especially in recent times, tend to give greater importance to the local origin of products: the IGP therefore has a great potential for development. still unspoken - observes Luigi Mazzoni - UNAPera is a truly innovative tool, the hope is that it will also be an interesting model for other crops in our land ".

The companies that founded UNAPera are: AFE, Unacoa, Apoconerpo, Apofruit Italia, Bergonzoni, Alegra, Biop, Cico, Mazzoni, Cipof, Consorzio Frutteto, Ceor, Eur.OPFruit, Gobbi Dino, Granfrutta Zani, La Buona Frutta, Minguzzi , Op Costea, Coferasta, Op Kiwi Sole, Spreafico, Opera, Natura Italia, Origine Group, Orogel.