Italy 2018: Quality incentives

Supervision of control checks
Among the main points of the framework agreement concluded in northern Italy for the 2018 harvest season, the evaluation and promotion of quality are of particular importance.
In addition to defining the modalities for carrying out quality control checks and deciding what equipment is needed to achieve this, the framework agreement stipulates that a control group for the IO is to be set up with the remit of constantly and independently supervising the reliability and coherence of quality evaluations of the shipments arriving at the factories, on the one hand by verifying delivery certificates and on the other hand by carrying out impromptu inspections directly involving quality control operators. The IO Control Group will be able to intervene at the request of either party, in order to mediate any conflict arising during quality control operations.
Adjustments carried out this year in the area of grading criteria and quality control mainly concern the payment scale of tomatoes on the basis of the Brix degree measured on delivery.
 
According to the terms of the framework agreement, "the Brix degree, measured to the hundredth, determines the price index according to its positioning against a base 100 that corresponds to a value of 5.00°Brix." The base price (EUR 79.75 /mT according to the agreement signed early February) will then be increased or reduced by 0.25% for each hundredth of a Brix degree in addition or in subtraction to the reference value (5°Brix), with a lower threshold value fixed at 4°Brix (allowing the processor to reject the shipment) and a higher value of 5.7°Brix (maximum limit for a price increase of +17.5% against the base price).

Encouraging quality
In order to encourage the production of raw materials with a Brix degree within a range of 4.8 to 5.2°Brix that specifically corresponds to the optimal average soluble solids content for processing tomato products in northern Italy, the framework agreement includes a quality incentive of EUR 1 /mT, which will be established as of 30 November 2018.

The price index established on the basis of the Brix degree can be modified according to the total percentage (limited to 8% maximum) of major defects (rotten fruit, green tomatoes, foreign bodies). For a sample presenting between 3% and 4% of major defects, there will be no change in price (but the usual reductions will be applied according to payable weight). For a shipment presenting less than 2.99% of major defects, the price index will be increased by 0.01 for each hundredth below 3%, with a maximum increase of 3 if the shipments present no major defects (0%). Conversely, a percentage of major defects between 4.01% and 8% will lead to a penalty of the price index of 0.01 for each hundredth above 4%, with a maximum deduction of 4 for shipments presenting 8% of major defects.