Italy second biggest producer of tomato

(ANSA) - Parma, October 28 - Italy has overtaken China to become the second biggest global producer of processed tomato products after the United States, the national association of canned vegetable industries ANICAV has said. The Italian processed tomato industry is worth approximately 3.2 billion euros, of which exports account for around 50%, the association added.
    The main export markets are the European Union - accounting for around 60% - followed by the United States, Japan and Australia, ANICAV manager Giovanni De Angelis said. "The export routes for processed tomato products have always followed our migratory flows in the first instance and then Italian catering abroad, and now the success … of iconic Made in Italy products such as pasta and pizza, which are difficult to imagine without tomatoes," De Angelis said. Italy has always been the biggest producer of canned tomatoes by end consumption, with peeled plum tomatoes being invented in Naples in 1700. "Ten thousand containers loaded with this 'red gold' depart each month from the port of Salerno (in the southern Campania region) alone," De Angelis said. The sector counts 120 processing companies that together give work to 12,000 permanent and 22,000 seasonal employees. This year favourable weather conditions in northern regions saw production of processed tomato products rise to 2.8 milion tonnes, while bad weather and planning difficulties in the centre and South led to a drop in production to 2.3 million tonnes. Italy accounts on average for 13% of global production and 48% of European production, De Angelis said.