The harvest of Gala apples has almost finished while the harvest of Golden apples is about to start and will continue until late October - along with Red Delicious, Piova apples and other varieties. Volume calculations will be done at the beginning of November. The lower calibre of apples, in some areas, might increase if temperatures are mild during the harvest. "Gala apples sold well and we hope we'll be able to recover production costs.
Our fruit farmers complain but they don't risk closing down their farms.
Access to credit is not a problem for us because croplands in Val Venosta have a great value so they are a reliable collateral". Italian apples have been well-accepted by the markets so far. Volumes are easily absorbed in Europe, whereas there are problems of access in Egypt, Algeria and Libya due to restricted liquidity, export licences, or difficult political situations.
"Although there are not many volumes to place, we must not let down our guard and we have to understand where to focus sales again. We need to continually develop new markets, but not in Asia. There they prefer red apples, whereas our best variety is the Golden apple which is yellow. North Africa and the Middle East are more interesting markets and they are reference areas for us", Grasser emphasises.
As for the US market, Grasser thinks there are serious issues with exportation, "First of all, plant health requirements and certificates are very strict and often cannot be applied in complex situation such as in Val Venosta where there are thousands of producing farms. What's more, the US are the second largest producer of apples in the world. Anyway, it is still an open door".
As for the Italian market, the consumption of apples has levelled off recently, after years of growth.
At Madrid Fruit Attraction VIP-Val Venosta will again reward their most loyal greengrocers and the new logotype of the apples will be shown (see FreshPlaza 26th February 2016).