AGO.SET 2014
VII
the practitioner gives great results.”
CHECKS ON THE FIELD. Gaetano
Oliva from Sica, company from Salerno
specialized in processing, storage
and sale of tomato-based products to
the trade, is one of the suppliers of
the CIC to the red line, in the types
of whole peeled tomatoes and diced.
Oliva also points out: “The production
of our preserves is concentrated in
the summer, from late July to late
September; the quality of the product
occurs from the checks made on the
field, to continue throughout the
production process. Among the many
ways to cure there is also that of the
collection, now mostly mechanized and
selective: a good product should not be
crushed or ruined, because it is likely to
trigger mold and rot. Then the company
will make further selections and within
a maximum of 12 hours, the tomato is
put into production: the respect of this
timing is important, because it allows
you to have a product integrity and to
the best of its organoleptic qualities.
They are all canned process from fresh,
on land suited, with a tight control on
plant protection products, business
processes and their hygiene, with
checks in the round.”
THE ROLE OF PACKAGING. If quality is
a fundamental aspect to the practicality
of the pack holds its importance,
especially when it is a product of daily
use in large quantities as is the case for
tomato preserves. Riccardo Ruggeri’s
confirmation of Co.Pad.Or. , agricultural
cooperative society Collecchio, a
provider of CIC for the products of
the Linea Rossa. “The fine pulp - says
Ruggeri - is our flagship product
born fifteen years ago. It has a very
high yield, very fresh, guaranteed by
various certifications, free of GMOs and
controlled supply chain. As with all our
canned tomato products is processed
only by our 138 members, in a time of
about 4 hours of collection. The fine
pulp is now available, as well as tinplate,
even in the “hot filling”, aseptic bags
of 5 or 3 kg net (respectively in cartons
of 2 or 6 bags) that allow for greater
comfort and safety to the opening, ease
of disposal, more modular and allow
logistical transport optimization.”
The Linea Rossa Qualitaly
THE RANGE. Canned peeled tomatoes,
diced, reduced in the past more or less
fine
ORIGIN. The tomatoes are grown in the
best areas in Italy (Campania, Apulia,
Emilia Romagna) and harvested at the
right stage of ripeness
FEATURES. The preserved are
characterized by a correct acidity, are
free from impurities and mold
Specialists in canned
According to FAO data, Italy is the first
country in tomato producer in Europe
with approximately 5.1 million tons
(year 2012), the production that meets
the requirement largely Italian. The
primacy of the producer in the world,
according to the same source, it is
instead to China, which holds about
30% share of the world production. The
industrial processing of tomatoes in
Italy has grown significantly since 1900,
particularly in the provinces of Parma,
Piacenza, Cremona and Mantua, where
it is converted about 35% of the entire
Italian processed tomato.
Origins
The golden apple, South America
The tomato is native to South America,
regions of Peru and Ecuador, where
you can still find wild species with
small fruits, similar to the type Cherry
or “cherry tomato”; it seems that the
English name “tomato” comes from
azteco “zitomate”, the name by which
certain populations of Mexico called the
fruit of the tomato plant.
The word “tomato”, however, is due
to the yellow color of the first fruits
appeared first in Spain and then
in Europe, at the end of the 500,
supplanting varieties of red fruit,
also present in South America. From
Spain to Naples, at that time a Spanish
possession, the distance is short.
Too bad that initially the tomato is
considered a medicinal and ornamental
plant; little by little, however, enters the
Italian cuisine, called “golden apple”
or “golden apple”. From Spain, in the
wake of the Arabs, the tomato arrived
in Sicily, where they found the oldest
Italian tomato-based recipes, especially
sauces for pasta, as an alternative to
butter-based sauces, cheese and spices.
In Parma, where the tomato is one of
the most cultivated vegetable species,
until the end of the 800 was not
included among the peasant eating
habits, even if a little later, in these
lands, we are witnessing the advent of
the processing of tomato. Currently the
canning industry uses about 70% of
Italian production of tomatoes, the rest
is destined for fresh consumption.
Museum of tomato
The tomato, its cultivation and its
processing industry have dignity
museum. A Collecchio (Pr), in the
heart of “food valley”, the Court of
Giarola, now houses the Museo del
Pomodoro. The choice of Giarola is
connected to the strategic role that
the location has played for the start
of the industrial dimension of the
canning industry in the early twentieth
