But should the wine in Italy be sold or given away?
A survey by Cribis-D & B shows that restaurants and retailers are bad payers, very bad payers of their debts. It is a system which is in crisis, but there is an alternative: Italian Agricultural Sector
Italian wine
The title used by Carlo Flamini, director of “Corriere wine” sounds like a prison term: the domain of the insolvent. Unfortunately, the data supports the premise: only 18% of restaurants and 24% of retailers settle their bills on time.
Even more worrisome it the note about bankruptcies: 14% of the wine producers, 18% of restaurants, and 22% of GDO may not be able to pay for supplies. The risk of closure not only for new businesses but for those who have been going strong for years and especially many restaurants that are on top of the list of sectors, all have a high closing rate. It is surprising to find, amongst companies with
Carlo Flamini in the middle
payments at risk, that 22% of them are large retailers. Evidently not only the family firms are wobbling but also those which are larger and more structured – all are suffering because the banks have tightened their purse strings. I wonder if the new regulations, suggested by the Minister Mario Catania, on payments of 60 days (30 days for fruits and vegetables), will accelerate the collapse rather than help to work things out. So on the one hand, the government sends reassuring messages and with the other increases the number of those businesses who are closing down or seen to be risking their paycheques.
Wine
At present the only broad project is being suggested by Coldiretti, the “Italian Agricultural Sector” under the direction of Pietro Pagliuca, to shorten the distance between producers in the country and the consumers in town. The plan aims to offer goods in the market, at the right price, typical local products made entirely in Italy. Minister Mario Catania, would it not be a good idea to give him a hand?
Read to you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini