When it comes to radicchio and chicories, Italian tradition meets a unique genetic heritage. Over the years, Smarties.bio has bred a comprehensive professional range that covers the entire production calendar, from the earliest to the latest varieties, while preserving biodiversity and promoting traditional Italian ecotypes. Thanks to extensive expertise in chicory breeding, Smarties.bio has developed a portfolio of varieties designed to meet the needs of both professional growers and passionate, offering harvests all year long and varieties suitable for both the fresh market and cold storage.
A Complete Range for Every Season
The Smarties.bio assortment includes the main Italian radicchio and chicory types:
- Cicoria Rossa di Chioggia
- Cicoria Rossa di Treviso Precoce e Tardivo
- Cicoria Rossa di Verona
- Cicoria Variegata di Castelfranco, Lusia e Chioggia
- Traditional specialties and selections
The range covers production cycles from approximately 55 to 160 days after transplanting, allowing highly flexible crop scheduling.
Cicoria Rossa di Chioggia: The World's Best-Known Radicchio
Cicoria Rossa di Chioggia, also known as "Palla Rossa" (Red Ball), is the quintessential radicchio. Smarties.bio varieties stand out for their intense red color, uniform white midrib and perfectly compact heads.
Cicoria Rossa di Treviso Precoce: Elegance and Versatility
Among the most appreciated market types, Cicoria Rossa di Treviso Precoce combines outstanding appearance, balanced flavour and excellent adaptability to different growing periods. The Smarties.bio varieties allow growers to schedule production from spring through winter, including cycles suitable for cold storage.
Smarties.bio Innovations: Varieties Expanding Production Opportunities
In recent years, the range has been enriched with new varieties selected to meet the evolving needs of modern vegetable production.
Alpone: An extra Early Cicoria Rossa di Verona
Alpone is one of the most exciting additions to the Cicoria Rossa di Verona range. With a crop cycle of just 55 days to maturity, it ranks among the earliest varieties in its category. The Verona type is highly appreciated for its perfect balance between tradition and ease of cultivation, offering rich flavour and an excellent texture for both fresh consumption and culinary use. Alpone allows growers to bring harvests forward while maintaining the premium quality standards that distinguish this renowned Veneto type.
Ylenia: A New Benchmark for Sugarloaf Chicory
Ylenia joins the Smarties.bio portfolio as an early Sugarloaf Chicory, reaching harvest in approximately 70 days to maturity. Sugarloaf chicory is valued for its high productivity and milder taste compared with other chicory types. Its versatility makes it suitable for both the fresh market and ready-to-eat salad mixes. Ylenia therefore offers an ideal solution for growers seeking earlyness, uniformity and excellent market quality.
Casteo: Preserving the Traditional Castelfranco Type
Among the newest introductions, Casteo stands out within the Cicoria Variegata di Castelfranco line. With a late crop cycle of 140 to 160 days to maturity, this variety fully expresses the characteristics that have made Castelfranco famous: creamy-yellow leaves elegantly speckled with red, outstanding crispness and a delicate flavour. The Smarties.bio Castelfranco range has been developed to preserve the traditional ideotype and is distinguished by its self-blanching ability, allowing high field yields while maintaining excellent suitability for leaf separation.
Gaetano: The Tradition of Gaeta Puntarelle
Although not strictly belonging to the classic radicchio types, Gaetano enriches the Smarties.bio specialty range. It is a selected Catalogna Chicory – Puntarelle di Gaeta, developed for specialist markets and consumers who increasingly appreciate regional culinary traditions. Puntarelle are one of the finest expressions of Italy's vegetable-growing heritage, and Gaetano further expands the Smarties.bio portfolio into high-value niche markets.
Biodiversity and the Preservation of Tradition
One of the distinguishing features of the Smarties.bio range is its strong commitment to biodiversity conservation. Many varieties originate from traditional Italian types that have been carefully preserved and improved without losing the unique characteristics that made them famous. From Cicoria Rossa di Chioggia and Treviso to Verona and Castelfranco, as well as regional specialties such as Puntarelle di Gaeta and Galatina, every variety tells part of the story of Italy's rich horticultural heritage.
The Smarties.bio radicchio and chicory range is now one of the most comprehensive portfolios available for professional growers. The introduction of Alpone, Ylenia, Casteo and Gaetano reflects our ongoing commitment to expanding our assortment by combining genetic innovation, sustainability and the preservation of local traditions.For growers and enthusiasts alike, this means access to a catalogue capable of meeting every cultivation requirement, with varieties selected for quality, reliability and strong regional identity.
Discover our complete and professional range of chicory and radicchio, ideal for a production all year long.