Price agreed for 2026 season in Northern Italy

The area framework agreement has been reached between the agricultural component and the processing industry.

The Interbranch Organisation of Processing Tomato of Northern Italy positively acknowledges the achievement of the Area Framework Agreement for the 2026 processing tomato campaign, reached through negotiation between the agricultural component and the processing industry ahead of the transplanting season.

The agreement defines the main contractual aspects that will regulate the 2026 campaign, including production and delivery methods, the qualitative criteria of the raw material, and the reference economic valorisation. Among its core directives, the agreement places an increasing focus on the quality of raw materials and the pursuit of improved crop planning. It establishes an average reference price of €137/ton ex-field, including premiums for late varieties and services.

The parties have worked with a sense of responsibility, placing at the centre the protection of agricultural income, the valorisation of production, and the economic sustainability of processing companies. Reaching this result required finding a difficult balance: on one side, the legitimate need for economic certainty by farmers facing rising production costs driven by geopolitical instability, high climate risk, and continuous investments for environmental sustainability; on the other, the industry’s need to preserve competitiveness in international markets, where players of continental dimensions benefit from less stringent regulations and lower energy costs.

The delegations acted with the commitment to safeguard the processing tomato supply chain — a central element of Made in Italy — at a historic moment characterised by strong competitive pressure, climate crisis, instability of agricultural and industrial production costs, and an increasingly complex international geopolitical situation. The strong sense of responsibility of all parties prevailed, in the awareness that the Agreement represents a fundamental regulatory instrument for an upcoming campaign expected to be particularly challenging.

“This result demonstrates once again that collaboration and dialogue between producer organisations and processing companies are fundamental tools to face current and future challenges,” said Giuseppe Romanini, President of the IO Processing Tomato of Northern Italy.

The vision of unity extends beyond Northern Italy. “In a difficult moment like the one we are experiencing, which sees our sector extremely vulnerable in the international competitive scenario, cohesion is the only answer that can sustain an important supply chain like that of the industrial tomato,” said Marco Serafini, President of Anicav. “We hope to recover the supply chain dialogue also in the Centre-South in order to reach, in that basin as well, the definition of an Agreement. The Italian industrial tomato is a unitary reality, which must be read and governed in its complexity, while respecting the specificities that characterise the two transformation basins.”

While highlighting that the IO does not participate in the definition of the agreement, as established by regulation, this result confirms the solidity of the processing tomato supply chain of Northern Italy and the strength of mediation and collaboration between its parties. The IO Processing Tomato of Northern Italy will sign the agreement for acknowledgment and acceptance of the commitments under its responsibility — including the collection of supply contracts stipulated between the parties and the verification of their compliance with the Area Framework Agreement — by April 20.

Sources: Press Office OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia, The Industrial and Agricultural Commission, Piacenza Sera