Fiumefreddo Di Sicilia - Fiumefreddo Today

Fiumefreddo Today

The vineyards which were the main sources of industry were uprooted during the eighteenth century. Since the beginning of the twentieth century Fiumefreddo has based its economy on citrus plantations (verdello lemons, oranges and tangerines) and on the manufacturing of citrus by-products. The first firms were built at the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the last. This caused an increased demand for labour; so many workers moved to Fiumefreddo especially from the Province of Messina. The lemon juice was processed, bottled up and exported to make several types of drinks. At the beginning of the 20th century the London market required almost the entire production. But from the 1950s the export trade began to meet difficulties because of the competition with America and Mediterranean countries, such as Spain and Israel.

The crisis of the citrus plantations caused a difficult time which was overcome when, in the 1960s, two factories were opened: the Siace and the Keyes, to manufacture the paper. This signalled an important economic change as agricultural workers became employed in manufacturing.

The opening of the Siace caused a widening of the tertiary sector and increased the quality of the local life, deeply linking the life in the town to the financial success of the factory. After a few years the first factory started its decline which ended with the closing of Siace. The critical time was the summer of 1969, when the factory was occupied by the workers. Later it passed to the Sicilian Region but this didn't save the factory, while Keyes, a Dutch multinational company, continued the production of trays and containers made of biological paper until 2005 when it was closed.

Lately there has been a return to the country; a renewed agriculture that makes optimum use of the land through farmers' co-operatives and innovation, such as the floriculture and the production of vegetables grown in greenhouses. It is important to underline the export of daisies, bouganvilleas (Fiumefreddo is in competition with Florida), hibiscus, ornamental palms and citrus trees. Recently the cherry tomato (called "di Pachino”) industry is expanding; about 80 people work in one farm. The growing and manufacturing of papyrus, out of which a valuable paper is made (the Pharaoh's paper), is also increasing. There is also a production of exotic fruit, especially mango, that finds ideal weather conditions here.

Handicraft is also developed, especially the manufacturing of building products and marbles, machine shops, the handwork of artistic handicrafts made of wrought iron, lamps, wooden and aluminium frames, joiner's shops and studios specialised in restoration works of old furniture. A big pasta factory specialising in organic pasta exports its products all over the world. It is very interesting visiting some craftsman's shops, especially those showing furniture of the Sicilian Eighteenth Century and old tools. In Via Umberto there is the studio of a very esteemed naive painter, Professor Marcello La Spina. Some private shops make gold and silk embroidery, following ancient techniques.

The local confectioner's shops, in via Umberto and in Feudogrande, Diana and Castello, make Cannoli, almond paste (marzipan), ice cream and granita.

Another source of wealth for the town is the sea, more so from tourism than fishing. Fiumefreddo's beach seems to be the only bathing area from Catania to Messina, in fact it gained the Blue Flag of the European Community. Carlo Lizzani filmed some scenes of his documentary “A travel around Frederick the Second". In restaurants along Marina di Cottone beach there is fresh fish and other specialities of Sicilian cuisine, accompanied by Etnean wines.