Fruit vendor wins €8,000 damages for late delivery

A fruit and vegetable vendor has won €8,000 in compensation after a court ruled that nearly 14 years ago a freight company was responsible for the late arrival of a consignment of fruit from Sicily which had to be thrown away.

The award was given in a case instituted by Jimmy Vella and his wife Josephine, the owners of Attard Fruit Supplies, against Customs and Freight Limited, which had entered into an agreement to collect the produce from Sicily and deliver it to Malta.

The First Hall of the Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef, heard how Mr Vella had entered into an agreement with an Italian company, Giuseppe Trovato e Figlio s.n.c., for the purchase of a consignment of fruit and vegetables.

During a meeting held in September 1998, the freight company, Customs and Freight Ltd, agreed to collect the produce from Acireale in Sicily and deliver it to Malta.

The Italian firm prepared the produce for collection on September 25, 1998.

The consignment included 216 boxes of pears, 96 boxes of nectarines, 40 boxes of black grapes, 92 boxes of white grapes and 42 boxes of onions.

All this produce was placed on seven pallets.

Customs and Freight had entered into an agreement with a Belgian company, De Wahter GT, to provide a cold-store container to store the produce for delivery.

However, a day after it was supposed to be collected, the company informed Mr Vella that the vehicle which had to collect the produce was in Reggio Calabria undergoing work.

Eventually, the goods were collected on October 5 and arrived in Malta a day later. The produce arrived at the fruit vendor on October 8, more than 10 days late.

As a result of this late delivery, most of the fresh produce had to be thrown away or sold at giveaway prices.

The court found Customs and Freight Limited respon­sible for the late delivery and ordered it to pay Mr Vella €8,018 in compensation.