Why Fenny?
Fenny is a project that La Gioventù s.r.l. has made based on its own history, the territory and the market.
Everything is coming from the idea that, through transparency from farm to fork, can be served quality as:
1. by imposing self-discipline and respect for the environment who produces, processes and sells the product;
2. adopting an internal coding system and a genuine system of traceability;
3. ensuring, through modern communication systems, the traceability of the product to the consumer.
Quality is served!
The product is labeled individually and each item provides a QR code that permits to identify the product through the internal source traceability system of the company that allows any customer to know all fundamental product information (origin, manufacturer, date of collection, etc.).
Company profile
Established in 1960, the fresh fruit and vegetables company "La Gioventù s.r.l.” has over the years reviewed and adjusted its "mission" according with the changing and growing needs of the market, presenting itself today as a functional partner for both the production and retail chains.
Guarantor of the quality products, it has been structured to monitor and to ensure the entire production; through the qualified technical staff, it is able to control all the steps that lead from the seed to the product packaged and ready for delivery.
By targeting the ability to provide fresh produce for all year long, it has been identified geographic areas where the different climatic conditions would allow to ensure better production and appropriately selected soils and seeds. The implementation of rigid production protocols has allowed us to control the product during its growth phase, and to assess the best time for the collection, strictly hand and during the night hours.
Using company vehicles and/or transport company regulars and qualified, the product is transferred to the plant in Pagani (SA), which is conditioned and packaged and then palletized and loaded on trucks, according the food safety standards for fresh produce.
The actual 1200 square meters production plant is going to be increased up to 3000 square meters as a new factory of 1,800 square meters building which will be operating a brand new process line dedicated exclusively to the manufacture of fennel.
Currently, the company employs about 110 employees for the various stages of production, processing and marketing; we believe that only qualified labor, appropriately trained, can guarantee the quality of our standards set.
About Fennel
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a herbaceous Mediterranean culture in the family Apiaceae and its cultivation has quite ancient origins, it seems that his vegetable cultivation dates back to 1500.
Fennel widely cultivated in southern Italy given the rather favorable climate and fertile soils that we find in this wide range.
Production
Before placing the seedlings, it is verified suitability for cultivation of the affected area, both in terms of quality soil that climatic characteristics, a process that ensures the economic success and avoid forcing unnecessary cultural practices.
With regard to climate parameters, are to be avoided sowing with high temperatures and photoperiod long as predispose the plant for pre-flowering and producing shoddy great drops:
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Minimum values of temperature indicated for the growth of plants and protection against damage in the final stage of the crop are fixed in 4 - 5 °C
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Minimum temperatures for germination are pointed out in 7 °C, while the optimum 20- 25 °C.
Therefore the areas that best lend themselves to the cultivation of fennel are the southern ones; specifically, to cover almost the entire year the cultivation plans envisage plants distributed as follows:
Puglia: November – January
Campania: January – March
Calabria: February – April
Alta Puglia: May – June
Basso Molise: May – June
Avezzano: June – October
Another distinctive element is the choice of variety:
Puglia: Leonardo, Tiziano and Masaccio
Campania: Tiziano and Spartaco
Calabria: Tiziano
Alta Puglia: Aurelio, Spartaco and Caravaggio
Basso Molise: Aurelio, Spartaco and Caravaggio
Avezzano: Preludio, Solaris, Masu, Orion, Venus,
Orbit, Leonardo
Identified areas suitable for cultivation of fenny, it proceed to production according to strict crop plans.
In general they prefer the soil on which at least 3 years was not cultivated fennel and which were present grasses. Soils should be processed in such a way as to promote the natural drainage of rain water, then with a sluice that does not allow the formation of stagnant water that could adversely affect the harvest.
Made plowing, about 60cm deep, there shall be a basic fertilization under the cultivation requirements and the natural endowment of land previously evaluated by the accredited laboratories technicians on the basis of soil analysis.
For transplantation using a transplanting machine with mechanical planting distance such as to ensure the presence of about 65000 pieces per hectare while irrigation is ensured through the use of an irrigation system of micro flow with the intent of ensuring the plants the required amount of water, avoiding water excess, and then waste.
The cultivation is carried out by qualified personnel and supervised by company technicians to ensure the quality and wholesomeness of fennel Fenny.
Harvest
The harvest is done by hand with workers hired through a specialized company, in order to protect the product even at this critical stage.
The harvest takes place during the night, until dawn, in order to promote the shelf life of the product.
To prevent damage and, above all, ensure good ventilation, fennel are placed in crates, loaded onto trucks and transported to the warehouse of La Gioventù.
Overall, the production of Fenny stands at about 300 ha of land, affecting about 100 farms.
....... from the field to the table!
Once in stock, fennel Fenny is handled in several steps, before heading to reach the final distributor:
• as soon enters in stock, the product is lowered on the cell at a temperature of 5 ° C for 12 hours;
• spent 12 hours the product is ready to be manipulated, therefore, is placed on the processing line on which it continues to ensure the cold chain;
• in order to delete all the impure parts and / or inedible, making a husking operation. Downstream of husking, fennel are placed on the processing line, in such a way as to ensure the washing of each piece;
• fennel are placed in an aqueous solution, constantly monitored, at a temperature 5 ° C ozone-containing and citric acid to maintain the pH in a range between 4 and 4.5 and prevent oxidation;
• the product passes on a conveyor belt where it is again moistened with water containing ozone and citric acid;
• The single fennel continues its run until the system calibration enables measurement merchandise through a calibrator laser.
Now each Fenny is labeled and packaged under dimension basis.
The label has a QR code through which (thanks to a special app on smartphones, tablets, etc.) the consumer can in real time approach to its traceability.
Through the website, specially created, the consumer, can have specific information about your product, origin, nutritional requirements, and is supplied recipes, etc. etc
Before loading and then departure, fennel Fenny is stored at a controlled temperature.
Innovation to support quality
Although appropriately combine productivity and quality with market needs, focusing on the availability of fresh produce for the longest period possible and the total control of the supply chain, at one point it seemed a satisfactory result, corporate governance has realized that to improve and increase the competitiveness needed to pursue new ideas, increase the ability to innovate.
This strategic vision has led in recent years, establishing relationships with a company of automation, to the development of a new processing line prototype for Fenny that, through an innovative washing system, allows to improve the product quality, being able to have a longer shelf life of several days compared to a conventional product.
This type of innovative system allows to carry out the washing of the single fennel always with clean water avoiding the passage of bacteria through the 'water stagnant’ present in the washing tanks of the traditional systems making Fenny a product bacteria-free.
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