Unifrutti introduces organic produce to MidEast

One of the world’s largest fruit growers, Unifrutti, has launched a range of organic fruits and vegetables sourced from farms across Europe.

The range, called The Green League, was showcased at Gulfood 2012 for the first time globally.

It will be targeted at chefs and restaurateurs in five-star hotels and food service.

Unifrutti decided to fill the gap for organic produce available in the Middle East in order to complement its existing business and offer customers the best product available, explained Unifrutti Asia CEO Mariana De Nadai.

“Organic is niche for this country [UAE], we haven’t identified someone who can really do a proper job so we decided to take part in it and we agreed with a supplier in Europe who does all the sourcing —our catalogue shows the origin of each product in each country and I have with me the certification for each product,” said De Nadai at Gulfood.

“My products are fully traceable and I’m the only one that can say that. It will never be bulk business but it is a trend and we as Unifrutti believe that this trend needs people to be responsible enough to deliver the proper product,” she added.

De Nadai said there were often misconceptions when it comes to organic produce.

“Organic is not just something you leave on the land and make it grow. Organic is a philosophy. It needs certain manipulation, it needs to be sustainable. People do not understand that. Anybody who sees something that does not look proper thinks it is organic, which is not correct.

“Our products are perfect, beautiful because they are managed,” said De Nadai.

She explained that sustainable, organic farming is an expensive practice, which makes the produce itself expensive too.

“If I need to control plants that are organic I need to plant certain flowers, herbs that can attract certain insects that will control the plants. At the end of the day it’s about doing the business properly,” she said.

Due to its niche target audience, the Green League range will form just 0.01% of Unifrutti’s business, said De Nadai.