3 Italian growers and exporters sign Joint Venture agreement to market top quality European apples in Asia

RK Growers, Rivoira and Vi.P Val Venosta have announced an alliance, focusing on the Asia market.

After intense negotiation over the last few months, three Italian partners, Rivoira, RK Growers and the Val Venosta groups (VI.P), signed a joint venture agreement for the exclusive and joint management of the Asian market. The focus will be on the Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea and Japan market.

The first goal of the joint venture is to developed and market the popular Ambrosia apple, along with other new and existing apple varieties.

The three groups believe their cooperation will strengthen their presence in the Asian market and increase commercial opportunities as it continues to grow. Asia is known for a strong interest in new varieties.

The new joint venture will start operating in the 2018/19 season and will be formally presented to the public at the next edition of Asia Fruit Logistica (Hong Kong, 5-7 September 2018). In September, the name and representatives of the joint venture will be unveiled and further details on the range and products available will be provided.

This joint venture creates an important new player in the Asian market. It will be a cooperation enhanced by, on one hand, the premium products available from Rivoira and Val Venosta (VI.P), and, on the other hand, current commercial presence of RK Growers in Asia, along with many of their own exclusive fruit varieties. A reality that will start with apples, but will not be limited to apples only. All partners aim to provide a full range of fresh fruit and vegetables in the future.

The first office of reference of the joint venture will be in Hong Kong , through RKG Asia Ltd, directed by Kevin Au Yeung. Mr Au Yeung will follow main customers through direct contact on site, coordinating their needs with the commercial campaigns of the partners. The partners agreed to supply the target markets exclusively through the joint venture, with strategies shared between the founding companies.

"I believe that we have a huge opportunity in Asia, because with the rise of income, consumers are demanding better tasting apple varieties to satisfy their ever-changing taste. China will be an interesting market in the future, because consumers are willing to pay top dollar for premium apples", says Kevin Au Yeung, Marketing Manager Asia at RKG Asia.

"People might wonder why China, a huge apple producing country itself, will import additional apples. However, China's domestic production lacks certain apple varieties that are currently very popular on global markets, as the main production is Fuji in China. In addition, good quality Fuji apples are hard to find, adding a price premium to this crop. This leaves an opportunity to market good quality apple varieties from Europe". At the moment, Italian apples have no market access to China yet, hopefully the protocol will be open to Italy soon.