For this new chapter of our technical “Valente Solutions” column, we have travelled to Puglia, more precisely to the countryside of Castellaneta (TA), to discover to the fullest the farm of our client and friend Dario De Lisi.
We are talking about a business that today counts 400 hectares of property land, 300 of which are dedicated to pomegranate production, making Masseria Frutti Rossi the leading company in Italy for the production of this extraordinary fruit.
Dario welcomes us to a pomegranate orchard cultivated with a fairly innovative agronomic technique that sees the use of ridge forming, that is, an elevation of the soil.
The rows, that is the plants, are planted above these ridges, which aim to avoid water stagnation but also to warm up earlier at ground level and cool down faster based on sun exposure.
The temperature range promotes both plant productivity and fruit coloration.
The pomegranate orchard is also provided with a cover of nets that Dario says bring numerous benefits, from protection against hail to protection from excessive sun exposure.
But that’s not all: the nets, in fact, also help to make the wind less harsh during particularly windy days.
This is the perfect result of what we intend when talking about multifunctional nets.
Dario’s project thus starts from a careful and innovative agronomic management to then include a full-scale enhancement of the agricultural production.
In fact, we are talking not only about the fresh fruit that is harvested from the field and, through the grading machine, selected for the sale of the so-called grade one (supermarkets and ready to eat).
Alongside this, a part of the production is instead enhanced through processing, especially with the extraction of “cold” juices that is done in an absolutely natural way, without the addition of preservatives, sugars or chemicals of any kind.
The resulting product can safely be called a real juice from fresh fruit, not from concentrate juice.
Then, as far as preservation is concerned, there are two options: through a system that guarantees long preservation of the juice through pasteurization, or through stabilization achieved by using a high-pressure machine that allows fresh juices to be served from the refrigerated counter.
We have tasted both types and can say that they are excellent!
Thanks to Dario for hosting us and for choosing our company, a choice he is happy with as he says he found in Valente an excellent value for money and a service that fully satisfied him.
See you on the next video for the second episode of this great interview.