Covid-19 accelerated the consumption trend of all citrus fruits around the world in 2020 and in the case of lemons, the acceleration did not concern only the quantities, but also the segmentation of consumer requests; the new needs that have arisen for some time in the face of the various offers have in fact exasperated with the effects of the pandemic, creating different consumption models that require very different products based on each lifestyle. And the lemon, a versatile citrus fruit that lends itself to various uses in every season, distributed everywhere at any time of the year, has become the mirror of a changing fruit and vegetable consumer. Alongside those interested in convenience and price there is also an increasingly large slice of the market strongly linked to territoriality and origin, while others consider product sustainability as a priority.

Lemon is the third category that has developed more turnover in 2020 in the field of sustainable agriculture and its sustainability goes hand in hand with the edibility of the peel which allows it to be consumed safely in all its parts, from the peel to the juice. A need linked primarily to cooking, another household habit that the pandemic has helped to bring back with great momentum in the lives of Italians in the last year. In particular for the counter-season lemon, the edibility of the peel represents a very important added value, of which more and more consumers are aware and which in Italy meets particularly rigorous quality standards.

Gianluca Defendini, CEO of Unifrutti Italia explained: "Thanks to the different productions of the Group's lemons, located in various climatic areas, we are aiming at a careful selection of crops to be able to distribute large volumes of edible lemons 365 days a 'year. During the winter season, the Italian demand is satisfied with Sicilian made in Italy lemons, including the prized Feminello di Siracusa IGP lemon. During the summer season that is just starting, the company plans to triple the import of Eureka lemons with peel without wax and chem-free, from both the 300 hectares in Argentina (located in the renowned Tucuman area) and from the South Africa division of the Group, recognized as productive excellence in the whole citrus sector". In the Italian citrus counter-season of 2021 Unifrutti will also initiate a change on oranges, raising the quality standard of the selections that will enter our country with the arrival of Navel and Valencia oranges with edible peel from South Africa, with the aim of expanding more and more this segment.