On Monday through Tuesday of last week, the full moon was shining over the Altes Land. Everyone was fast asleep. Only the employees of the Münch organic fruit farm were about, harvesting this year's Vollmondäpfel (Full Moon Apple). Within one night, about 120 tons of organic Jonagored were picked. "Its unique marketing and storytelling leads to an interesting increase in sales and have a clear recognition value within the trade," says sales manager Marco Bartels.
Sales increase
After a long-term initiative many years ago, several organic fruit growers in Germany were picking full moon apples. Although nocturnally harvested, the fruit visually does not differ from products picked by day, but its taste should be incomparable. Nevertheless, of the many fruit farms formerly doing this there is just one left: Obsthof Münch.
This company usually markets the unique apple directly to its customer Tegut, who sells the products under the same full moon label. Each box is provided with a high quality full moon insert and each apple carries a full moon label. "The full moon apple is offered to Tegut for the same price as other organic apples," says Bartels.
The marketing measures have led to an interesting sales increase. For as soon as the season of the full moon apples comes to an end, the sales of the Jonagored variety drop by 50 percent. The Jonagored variety is an excellent full moon apple. "One must choose a suitable variety, ideally a large apple, which can be harvested well at night."
Deljonca
Obsthof Münch is always looking for new, interesting varieties to cultivate and market. That is why, this year, the new Deljoncas were planted. Deljonca is harvested in August, in parallel with the Delbarestivale. The variety is tasty and has nicely coloring. "This way, Elstar lovers will already have a tasty alternative before their favorite is even harvested," says Bartels.
The Deljonca variety
Organic farming on a large scale
Claus-Peter Münch has been cultivating organic fruit in the Altes Land for more than 35 years. He was one of the first organic fruit farmers in northern Germany. Starting with 1.3 hectares, the grower now has some 120 hectares of land in use at one location, making it one of the largest independent producers of organic consumer fruit in Germany.
In addition to domestic sales, part of the yield is exported to Scandinavia. Elstar, Topaz and Jonagored are the main varieties of this grower. Pears and plums will complete the assortment. For this year, the organic grower expects a very good harvest of excellent quality. "We expect to be able to offer high-quality organic apples until July."
For more information:
Bio Obst Münch GmbH & Co. KG
Siebenhöfen 29
21723 Hollern
Tel.: 04141 - 70610
Fax: 04141 - 76775
info@bioobstmuench.de
www.bioobstmuench.de