Italy Study Tour - IFEATifeatdemo.dns-systems.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Italy-Study-Tour.pdfPRESENTATION ON ITALY STUDY TOUR Ms Bhuvana Nageshwaran Ultra International, New Delhi,

Paper presented at the IFEAT International Conference in Shanghai, 18 - 22 Oct. 2009 ‘Essential China:A Major Consuming Market and Sourcing Partner in a Turbulent World.’

IFEAT SHANGHAI 2009 PRESENTATION ON ITALY STUDY TOUR

Ms Bhuvana Nageshwaran

Ultra International, New Delhi, India It is my pleasure to briefly inform you about the IFEAT Italy Study Tour which took place earlier this year in February. This Study Tour was advertised as a trip of a lifetime and it certainly was for me. Study tours are expensive, both in money and time, and it is very important that such tours are of value to the participants and their companies. As with the two previous IFEAT study tours to Sri Lanka and Egypt, this Tour was no exception. It was worth a great deal more than the cost of participation. OBJECTIVES/AIMS The Tour fulfilled all its objectives. It provided an intimate knowledge of the production, processing and trading of citrus essential oils in southern Italy, as well as enlightening the participants about many other related issues.

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STUDY GROUP That the Study Tour went so well is a huge credit to the Local Organising Committee. This is especially the case when you consider the number and range of visits and the other activities that were packed into a very busy schedule alongside the distances that we travelled. The Local Organising Committee was chaired by Ms. Antonella Corleone, an IFEAT Executive Committee member. She was supported by several other individuals and companies. The tour participants were particularly grateful to the various companies – many of them family owned - that helped plan the Tour as well as showing us around their operations and providing excellent hospitality. These included the Capua’s, the Caratozzolo’s, the Corleone’s, the Ferrara’s, the Misitano’s, the Stracuzzi’s and Alberto Arregui and members of the Cilione/Bontoux group. While the programme ticked along seamlessly with only a few hitches, it was quite obvious that an enormous amount of planning and co-ordination had preceded the delegates' arrival. A special mention should also be made of the tour agency, Tagliavia and Co. – and our multi-lingual guide Linda Incandela, who accompanied the tour group throughout the programme - smiling, courteous and efficient to the end. Also our driver whose driving skills on the narrow streets and lanes of southern Italy elicited spontaneous applause on several occasions.

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Another important benefit of the Tour was the interaction and networking between members of the Group. In all, some 27 IFEAT members from 12 different countries participated. Sadly 4 participants who had registered were unable to attend for various reasons. SUMMARY OF THE PROGRAMME The Study Tour promotional brochure had advised participants to expect tough travel and a busy schedule. The tour, it said “is for the dedicated industry enthusiast'. This was certainly the case. On Sunday, 22nd February the Tour members converged on Palermo, Sicily from Asia, the Americas and Europe for the start of the Study Tour. During the next 5 days the Group visited and held discussions with 10 different essential oil processing and citrus growing organisations. In addition, we visited the University of Messina to see their impressive essential oil testing laboratories. We travelled hundreds of miles and stayed in 4 different hotels over the 6 days. Sadly, for some of the participants this left little time for sightseeing and shopping! However, it encouraged many to recognise the beauty of the region and to want to return to southern Italy.

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Each day saw a full programme of activities lasting from early morning until late evening. Most of the organisations visited are family owned with many decades of expertise in producing and processing citrus oils for a variety of applications. Visits to the essential oil producing companies usually followed a similar format:

• An introduction to the company’s operations,

• A guided tour of the plant and laboratories, where participants were able to quiz the staff.

THE MODERN ESSENTIAL OIL INDUSTRY

• Various types of extraction and processing equipment were viewed

What oils we saw

• A comparison and discussion of the main

organoleptic and chemical characteristics of a wide range of citrus oils obtained by different processes that the companies produce. These included lemon oils, blood and blond sweet orange oils, mandarin oils (red, green and yellow) and bergamot oils.

• Production of lemon, bergamot and

mandarin oils in 2008/09 was estimated at 600, 70 and 55 tonnes respectively.

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• In addition, each company provided a selection of delicious Italian snacks and in several cases superb lunches and dinners, as well as information packages and gifts for each of the participants.

MONDAY 23RD FEBRUARY Corleone Operations including Laboratories Following the Welcome Reception and meal on Sunday evening, the Group set off early on Monday morning to visit the operations of Agrumaria Corleone in Palermo, where lemon and blood oranges (with its bright red fruit and juice) were being processed. Quite some time was then spent in the laboratory discussing the various samples of oils that were on display Best Operations Following an excellent lunch hosted by Best, the Group visited their Nisida factory to see the lemon processing operations. In the evening Agrumaria Corleone hosted a superb meal at Mondello, and for those members still awake after a tiring day there was a traditional puppet show. TUESDAY 24TH FEBRUARY Lemon Groves Tuesday morning saw a visit to the lemon groves of Bagheria.

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Candifrucht Factory Following the visit to the lemon groves we then moved eastwards along the coast to the Candifrucht Factory at Barcellona, where we saw the newly installed Brown Extractors, used for lemon, blood orange, mandarin and cedrat oil extraction. Production Facility of Citrus Vita Following a lunch hosted by Candifrucht, there was a visit to the modern Citrus Vita factory at Pace del Mela, with its 3 separate processing lines and 21 FMC extractors and deterpenation/concentration operations. WEDNESDAY 25TH FEBRUARY Misitano e Stracuzzi at Furci, Siculo On Wednesday morning, after an overnight stay in Messina, we visited the Misitano e Stracuzzi factory at Furci Siculo, on Sicily’s east coast. The Group were very impressed at the new processing equipment and sound-proofing installed in the restricted site in the centre of town.

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Fruit groves and Packing operations of Red Co.P. in Palagonia Travelling further down the coast, alongside Mount Etna and the fertile volcanic soils, we visited another lemon grove and the grading and packing plant of Red Co. P. cooperative based in Palagonia. This organisation cultivates 1,600 ha of mainly blood orange but also mandarin, clementine and lemon, of which 630 hectares are organic. Sadly we arrived in the dark at our hotel in the beautiful medieval town of Taormina but in the morning had wonderful views of Mt. Etna and the coast. THURSDAY 26TH FEBRUARY University of Messina Laboratories Thursday saw a visit to the new EU funded analytical laboratories at the University of Messina, where detailed presentations were made about the analysis of essential oil constituents. These techniques have important implications for detecting adulterants and pesticides – and hopefully there will be a presentation by a member of the University at next year’s Conference in Marrakech. Capua Production facility at Reggio Calabria Following a short ferry ride to the mainland we visited the Capua factory in Reggio Calabria, to see the bergamot pelatrice extraction and further processing operations and the laboratories.

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FRIDAY 27TH FEBRUARY Bergamot trees On Friday we visited a bergamot field at Pellaro, where the last few fruits of the season were being harvested. Bergamot is not an edible fruit and therefore (in theory) is not eligible for EU subsidies. The oil is widely used in fragrance creation, and less commonly used in flavour creation, with a major use in the production of Earl Grey tea. Cilione factory Then on to the bergamot factory of Cilione at Reggio followed by a visit to Cilione’s new factory currently being built a short distance away which should be open by the Summer in time for the new harvest.

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Bar II Bergamotto Following an excellent lunch hosted by Cilione, we visited the Bar "Il Bergamotto" where we saw old processing equipment and tasted different types of bergamot-flavoured desserts. IN CONCLUSION:

• The tour was an invaluable learning experience; for many of the participants it was their first visit to southern Italy and many were unfamiliar with its citrus oils industry. They were able to see and experience it at first hand and in detail.

• It provided a clear picture of the diversity, sophistication, range and quality of aromatic

products and production facilities available from Italy.

• There will be good commercial spin-offs from the Group's exposure to the Italian essential oils industry and vice versa.

• There will be valuable lessons and contacts that Group members have taken back to enrich

their own endeavours. Finally, the Group was very appreciative of the support and hospitality of our Italian hosts in making an exhausting tour most educational and memorable. Again, particular thanks go to the IFEAT Local Organising Committee and the companies and other organisations that opened their facilities to us. While the weather was colder than some expected this meant that snow-covered Mount Etna provided a beautiful backdrop to the final three days of the Tour (when the clouds lifted).