The netted melon campaign has kicked off in Sicily, although the Senegalese product can still be found in Italian and European stores. The first crops produced by the growers' organization OP Eco Farm are almost ready to be distributed.
Carmelo Stagnitto, production quality manager for the Sicilian company, says: "Around the first ten days of April, OP Eco Farm will start marketing the traditional and red-fleshed varieties. The latter will see a significant increase in quantities compared to the last campaign."
The picture shows Carmelo Stagnitto, the agricultural technician in charge of quality at Eco Farm
"We don't have a precise start date," explains the quality expert, "because for several years Eco Farm has not started its sales campaign at the beginning of the production season, but only when the fruit is ripe on the plants. In other words, we only start selling when the product is actually ready and good to eat. After all, what would be the point of stocking the shelves with a product that is unlikely to please the consumer, who will not come back to buy it?"
"The quantities available on the plant this year are lower than in the last campaign," continues the expert, "but the quality is better, both in terms of Brix and in terms of size and netted surface. The aesthetic factor will therefore prove to be a telltale sign of superior taste, and indeed a very good production year is on the horizon. It will take some time before we know what our netted melons are going to be priced at."
Headquartered in Riesi (Italy), in the Sicilian countryside, the organization has production facilities extending over most of the island: 50 to 60 hectares from Licata to Palma di Montechiaro, mainly near the sea, where the netted melon achieves its best organoleptic characteristics. In recent years, the organization has also significantly increased its exports to northern European countries, as well as its supplies to the large-scale retail sector.
For more information: 
O.P. Eco Farm s.r.l.
Rocco Patrì
Sede Legale: Viale della Regione, 232
93100 Caltanissetta
Stabilimenti: C.da Judeca
93011 Butera (CL)
Tel.: +39 0934 921558
E-mail: [email protected]
www.ecofarmitalia.com