The formation of price in the citrus fruit chain in the production area of the province of Catania

This paper summarises the objectives, the methodologies, and the main results of a research into the market dynamics of price formation in the citrus fruit chain in the province of Catania, one of the areas of Italy most suited to their production, through the comparison of the prices charged at different stages of the supply chain: production, wholesale, and retail. The research is divided into two parts. The first part defines the citrus fruit chain and its related operators, the second part defines the methodology employed for the analysis of the data and the results that has made it possible to determine how wide the price gap is between the wholesale market (sold to the market even before the citrus is harvested) and the retail market, and the considerable price variation within the citrus varieties identified. The picture that emerges from an analysis of price data in the citrus fruit chain reveals evident criticalities in the sector, which sees the citrus producers operating in a survival situation, with minimal profit margins that are not sufficient to fully cover the costs incurred.