Italy makes UK inroads

The Fuji harvest in Italy is just starting and the vast majority of the fruit will be the Kiku clone introduced from Japan in the last decade and managed by a limited company of the same name under the slogan Fresh Apple Emotion in Italy's apple-growing heartland.

“Kiku is now about 90 per cent of all Fuji clones planted,” explains the company's Jürgen Braun. And in the South Tyrol region Fuji has been the most-planted new variety of the past two years accounting for more than 20 per cent of all new plantings, the vast majority of them Kiku.

The clone is characterised by its deep red colour and is well liked by growers. “Kiku develops a ruby red colour and stripes on the whole surface of the apple,” says Dr Braun. “Packout is therefore more than 80 per cent and because it colours up so well, growers can pick at the ideal harvesting time. This brings advantages in storage as there is no internal breakdown or glassiness and producers can harvest almost all the apples on the tree at first picking.”

Dr Braun maintains that Kiku is more attractive to shoppers than other Fuji clones because it is so highly coloured as well as having the sweet Fuji taste. It also stores well achieving nine months in controlled atmosphere cells.

The UK market is an extremely important one for Kiku growers in Italy as preferred sizes complement Italian consumers' preferred profile. “UK consumers don't like such big apples as Italians, who like 80mm,” explains Dr Braun. “This means that in the end we can still market a high percentage of the total crop bringing good financial returns to everyone involved in the supply chain and consumers benefit as they are getting a high-quality product. The big challenge for the future will be finding a good way to work with the supermarkets and achieve co-branding with Kiku.”

VOG REDIRECTS ITS PORTFOLIO

South Tyrol consortium VOG is the largest apple production and marketing organisation in Italy. It groups 27 co-operatives growing in the key northern Italian growing area, and its structure is evolving as part of a vital market-oriented strategy.

“Two years ago there were 32 co-ops in our membership, but now there is 27,” explains director Gerhard Dichgans. “This doesn't mean we have lost any members, but that we are going through a process of reorganisation with some of the smaller co-operatives merging. The aim is that the average size of the co-ops will be bigger.” A further six co-operatives are involved in the process so that by the end of next year, VOG will count 24 co-ops among its membership with no loss of acreage. “It is purely an industrial and commercial reorganisation,” says Dichgans. “Our objective is an average 24,000-30,000 tonnes of production annually per co-operative which will give a bigger volume per packhouse and provide continuity to export markets and individual customers.”

As well as investment in new packhouses, VOG has been leading the charge in restructuring its variety portfolio and orchards to meet ñ and even anticipate ñ changing market demands. “We have adopted a strategy of complete renewal of our orchards grubbing up and replanting with new trees 31 per cent of our orchards over five years,” explains Dichgans.

The impetus for this really came in 1999 when returns to growers in South Tyrol hit a real low. “That was the last straw, so besides the commercial restructuring, we decided to invest in new orchards,” says Dichgans. Growers since then have set about grubbing Golden Delicious from lower altitude areas along with Morgenduft, Gloster and Jonathan throughout their acreage. And they have been replanting with new, redder clones of Gala as well as Braeburn, Fuji and Pink Lady in the lower and middle altitude areas. Red Delicious production is also on the wane as Fuji and Gala make inroads. “In the mountains we have been replacing old Golden Delicious trees with new ones, because the altitude is right,” says Dichgans. “Our microclimate is very special and we are growing apples at 250-1,000 metres above sea level. The whole idea is to plant those varieties that are best suited to the different microclimates in our region with Golden in the mountains and Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji ñ which all need warmer climates ñ planted lower down.”

Although Golden Delicious is the backbone of VOG's offer the consortium is aware that consumers are turning to other apples too. The pale cultivar's share of the German apple market for example has halved over the past 10 years.

Italy is of course the number one market for VOG accounting for almost 50 per cent of its sales, but Germany takes some 27 per cent of the group's output with other markets such as the UK, Spain, Greece and the Scandinavian countries on about five per cent each.

The group's main exports to the UK are Gala, Braeburn, Granny Smith and increasingly Pink Lady. “Last year we sold about 10,000t of Pink Lady and are now the biggest marketeer for the variety in Europe,” says Dichgans. “The UK showed the biggest increase in Pink Lady volumes last season and we have higher volume programmes again this year from our customers.”

As for this season across the rest of the variety range, the South Tyrol area appears to have been quite lucky with the weather. Frost in April did not cause the much-feared damage to the crop as growers had irrigation systems to protect delicate flowers with water. Irrigation also saved the day as other parts of Italy sweltered in baking heat during the summer although some fruit has been affected by sun-scorch and is being diverted to the processing market.

While sugar levels are up, sizes overall are slightly down, however. “If apples are just 1mm smaller, that means a four per cent drop in volume and we have a 2-3mm drop in size across the bi-coloured varieties on average,” says Dichgans.

After two extremely high volume seasons then, VOG volumes are set for a 10 per cent decline year on year. With the EU crop generally down to 10-year lows, then VOG should be well placed with its streamlined commercial structure and updated orchards and variety portfolio, to harvest some good returns in 2003-04.

MELINDA'S DOP MESSAGE

When the European Union granted protected denomination of origin (DOP) status to apples from Italy's Val di Non last month it brought the first such recognition to any Italian apple and only the third in Europe.

The denomination was granted to Golden and Red Delicious and Renetta Canada grown in Non Valley area which is surrounded by the Dolomite mountains. The region has long been synonymous with apples for Italians and their quality has finally been recognised.

Some 95 per cent of the apples grown in the region are marketed by Melinda, a consortium that groups 5,200 producers. “DOP status gives important recognition to the quality of their work,” says Melinda's president Guido Ghirardini. “It recognises that our apples are a traditional product, grown by thousands of small-scale producers with a desire to preserve those values and high quality that are inextricably linked to their product and region.”

Growers are looking to the future too updating their orchards with new Red and Golden Delicious plantings and concentrating production in orchards most suitable for each variety. Gala and Fuji production are also set to increase.

Melinda concentrates on the Italian market, although it does send exports to Germany, France, the UK, Spain and Scandinavia.

SOUTH TYROL'S EXPLOSION

The South Tyrol area is forging ahead in integrated crop management and organic apple production. Val Venosta producer association VIP groups 2,000 growers into nine co-operatives that between them grew 250,000 tonnes of apples last season. The grouping has been producing using environment-friendly techniques since 1987 and now claims to account for the largest organic apple production area in Europe selling 9,000t of the fruit a year.

It has been taking on board EurepGAP requirements by running trials on 50 of its orchards so far and rolling out to a further 250 this season with all of its producers expected to earn certification by 2005. The organisation already has its own strict protocols in place which demand more of growers in some aspects ñ for example fruit coloration ñ than European standards.

It is also working on updating orchards and investigating the potential of new varieties. Top of the list under trial is Rubens, a bi-coloured Elstar-Gala cross. VIP is also looking at Diwa, Sonya, Mairac and Cameo which are being studied in collaboration with the South Tyrol variety-development group SK Südtirol.