The 2021 tomato processing campaign in Italy closed with a production of just over 6 million tons of processed product, up 17% compared to 2020. A very important result as it makes Italy the second largest producer of canned tomatoes in the world after the United States, and well ahead of China.
In Central and Southern Italy, 2.96 million tons of tomatoes were processed (+22.3% over 2020) while in the North the canned tomatoes production reached 3.09 million tons (+12.8%). This is an appreciable increase, mainly due to the larger cultivated area (more than 71 thousand hectares, 8% more than last year), and a better agricultural yield (more than 85 tons per hectare).
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“The campaign just ended was certainly a very positive one, not only in terms of quantity but also for the excellent quality of canned tomatoes, despite the fact that companies have had to face unprecedented increases in industrial costs,” – says Marco Serafini, president of ANICAV, the national association of industrial vegetable food preserves. “These are encouraging figures, which strengthen our position as a world leader in the production of tomato derivatives directly destined to consumers”.