Italy to continue fruit and vegetable promotion in key Asian countries

Despite the setbacks caused by COVID-19, the European Art of Taste: Italian Fruit & Veg Masterpieces initiative will continue its activities of promoting fresh and processed Italian fruit and vegetables in China, Japan and Taiwan. The European Union and the Italian government-funded €3.7 million (US$4 million) project launched in February 2019 and will run until January 2022.
In its first year, the project focused on promoting the excellent quality of Italian kiwifruit, red oranges, and processed fruit and vegetables such as tomato puree. The initiative garnered 600 million contacts in 2019. The project facilitated the participation of buyers from the three Asian countries in Italian trade fairs and organised B2B meetings. Also, there were thousands of promotional activities held in key Asian markets.
The Covid-19 emergency, however, has reduced the number of events last December and in January this year, which was also the harvest period of kiwifruit and red oranges. Yet, the encouraging results in 2019 have established the base for productive collaborations for the future, organisers said.