VOG is preparing to launch a new project that will feature the club apple variety Evelina BIO®, of which the consortium is the exclusive producer in Italy. It consists of a co-branding with Bio Marlene®, the consortium's brand devoted to organic production, under which no fewer than nine apple varieties are marketed. The brand, launched in 2013, has now become a synonym for quality and freshness and will be able to give a major boost to the promotion of the new Evelina BIO® in Spain.
The co-branding project foresees the distribution of two-layered boxes containing the Evelina BIO®, which will include a recommendation of the brand Bio Marlene®. The goal is simply to convey a sense of continuity between the operators of the Iberian country, which are already working with the consortium and are familiar with their quality levels concerning both the product and the service.
Evelina BIO® is an attractive apple because of its shape and colour, with a bright red tone and golden hues. It is highly appreciated by consumers around the world due to its fragrant aroma, crisp texture and fresh taste, which remains intact with the passage of time, conveying the feeling that it has only just been picked.
Bred in the heart of Europe according to rigorous selection criteria, the Evelina® apple is grown in countries where the microclimates are more favourable to its cultivation. Therefore it can only be produced in certain areas with specific soil and weather characteristics in order to guarantee superior organoleptic qualities and a suitable colouring. The Alto Adige, the area at the foot of the Italian Alps, where the VOG consortium is headquartered, has proven to be one of the most suitable areas.
Thanks to its characteristics and innate resistance, which allows it to easily withstand all major pests, Evelina® apples are particularly suitable for organic cultivation.
With regard to production statistics of the Evelina BIO®, supplied by the VOG, in 2015 some 1,500 tonnes of table apples were harvested.
"We are still in the stage of the first harvests, with mostly young crops; that is why we are confident the volume will increase in the coming seasons. We estimate that, within two or three years, it will become the third most important apple (after the Royal Gala and Braeburn) of the Bio Südtirol cooperative, the VOG centre devoted exclusively to organic products," said Gerhard Dichgans, director of the consortium.
From the point of view of marketing in Europe, its taste, with a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, is helping Evelina BIO® apples grow in popularity in many European countries, from the Nordic countries to the Mediterranean. The main markets in which it is currently available are Spain (accounting for approximately 40% of the production), England (30%), Italy (10%) and Poland and Romania (20% overall).
For more information: www.vog.it