Mantua melons on US tables: "Price increases? Demand is growing."

Sermide (Mantua) – From the floodplains of the Po River to the banks of the Hudson: this is the journey Mantua melons are increasingly making. Those produced by Zerbinati Agricoltura, a historic farm in the lower Mantua area specializing in high-end products, have arrived in New York and are served in some of the Big Apple's most prestigious restaurants and pastry shops. With 220 hectares of first-harvest melon cultivation, the Sermide-based company is already well-established in the US market: "We've been present overseas for five years now," explains Oscar Zerbinati, "and demand has gone from one pallet a week to fifteen, or even twenty today."

The Mantua brand is marketed in the US through the Sermide Ortofruit cooperative, a production hub in the district, with over a thousand hectares of melon cultivation. For this niche sector, which due to its size and quality is less affected by tariffs than others, the US isn't just New York: there's also the thriving Miami market, while outside the Americas, Zerbinati has his eye on Melbourne, home to a large Italian-Australian community eager to relish the taste of homegrown produce.

Meanwhile , in the United States, Mantua melons have found a market willing to pay $50 each . Duties, obviously , are an additional concern for the Sermide-based company, but the unique nature of the product should protect it more than others even in the event of price increases. In other words, quality melons are aimed at a premium clientele willing to pay more, especially if, as in the case of restaurateurs, they can recoup the cost from the end consumer. And Zerbinati has no shortage of this type of buyer: the list includes Cipriani, Roscioli, Cucina Alba, and The Four Horsemen in New York, as well as Maas Restaurant at the Four Seasons in Miami.

The threat of tariffs is changing commercial strategies: the Sermide-based company, adds Oscar Zerbinati, would like to introduce the melon "into the high-end supermarket market" to broaden its consumer base. A sharp increase in already significant prices could slow down the process or make it more difficult. And the difficulties could also impact the entry of Mantua squash into the American market, which Zerbinati had planned to introduce as early as September.