Northern Italy’s Interbranch Organization for Processing Tomatoes (OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia), which brings together 100 per cent of growers’ organizations and processors across Europe’s largest tomato-processing district, has opened preparations for the 2026 campaign after closing a 2025 season marked by lower-than-expected yields.
The recently concluded harvest delivered 3,121,617 tonnes of tomatoes grown and processed — 13 per cent below contract agreements. Average yields dropped to 69.3 tonnes per hectare, undershooting the five-year average of 73.2 t/ha, although product quality remained high, with an outstanding Brix level of 5.
The sector is contending with the cumulative impact of three difficult years: the 2023 floods, weak output in 2024, and reduced yields in 2025 — all interpreted by industry leaders as clear consequences of climate change. Against this backdrop, the OI argues that a more rigorous planning framework is now essential.
UPDATED STATUTE AND SHARED RULES
At the organisation’s general assembly on 26 November in Parma, members approved amendments to the statute and updated the sector’s shared rules, the outcome of a broad participatory process. These instruments, the OI emphasised, are designed to reinforce fairness, transparency, and reliability along a supply chain that is internationally recognised for its organisational strength.
Among the changes is the introduction of new data-reporting obligations for member organisations, including information on inventories of finished products converted into raw material equivalent. Data on stocks, domestic market conditions, and global trends will serve as a foundation for planning cultivated acreage and industrial requirements.
THREE-YEAR PROGRAMME APPROVED
Members also endorsed the organisation’s three-year activity plan, which consolidates ongoing initiatives and sets strategic priorities through 2028. Key objectives include:
- Institutional lobbying on trade reciprocity, gene-editing, and assisted-evolution technologies, crop protection rules, water resource management, and negotiations on the 2028–2034 CAP framework.
- Development of a digital data-exchange platform.
- Use of historical datasets to support risk-management and insurance models.
- Publication of a sector-wide sustainability report integrating practices from both grower organizations and processors.
“The revision of the statute, the update of the shared rules, and the three-year programme are important results,” said Giuseppe Romanini, President of the OI. “But the real achievement is the spirit of collaboration: working together is the only way to grow and improve.”