DESCRIPTION

The district of San Benedetto del Tronto includes 26 municipalities of the province of Ascoli Piceno in the zone of territory which starts from the Adriatic coast and stretches back in the hinterland of Ascoli's territory and arrives up to the foot of Sibillini mountains (Acquaviva Picena, Appignano del Tronto, Carassi, Castignano, Castorano, Colli del Tronto, Comunanza, Cossignano, Force, Massignano, Montalto delle Marche, Monte Rinaldo, Monte Vidon, Combatte, Montedinove, Montefiore dell’Aso, Monteleone di Fermo, Monterubbiano, Moresco, Affida, Ortezzano, Palliano, Petritoli, Ripatransone, Rotella, San Benedetto del Tronto, Spinetoli). In all, the district covers a total area of about 400 square kilometres. There are three main agricultural farming production sectors: fruit and vegetables, farming and preservation of fish, wine production.

There are many spin off companies in the area. There are producing companies of specific packaging, design and construction of machinery, manufacturing plants, plants for preservation and packaging of the products and connected service activities (support, maintenance, marketing of technical items). The Marche's food farming is exported around the world with increasing trend. The first items of exportation are cereals and vegetables, followed by beverages mainly made up of wine. In its geographical layout, the agroindustrial district of San Benedetto del Tronto shows several productive specializations in the fish farming and preservation sector, production of edible oils and fat, wine production, olives and vegetables, production of ice creams and pasta.

There are three main agrofarming sectors in the area: the first is fruit and vegetable production which has the national market as a reference. Part of the raw materials processed comes from Sicily, from the province of Latina, from Roseto degli Abruzzi. The products sold are fruits, vegetables and local traditional things such as white cauliflower from the Marche and Abruzzo territory, chard, chicory and endive lettuce. The quality is confirmed in some cases by the adopted certifications (ISO 9000) and by the offer of branded products. The second sector is fishing and can be divided into fresh fish, frozen fish and fish thawed. More than a third of the fish is sold by GDO (north Italy and retail) and an important part of the national market of fresh and frozen fish is located in the District. This sector faces strong competition because of the lower prices of products that come from foreign countries and the frozen fish intended for processing is increasingly imported.

Finally, the sector is wine production which offers high quality products and the national market is characterized by a demand still in growth.

The sectors developed within the district are supported by the development of spin-offs and by important material and intangible skills in the logistics, research and technological transfer of services. In particular, deep freezing of fish and fruit and vegetable products has stimulated the diffusion of companies: machinery producers, manufacturing plants, preservation and packaging of the products and connected service activities (support, maintenance, marketing of technical items, etc.), producers of packaging and packaging solutions that conduct advanced tertiary activities (design, marketing, planning, quality and sanitary control), specialized in research and technology transfer, as well as in activities and infrastructures for logistics and distribution.