Other Melinda apples - Gala, Red Delicious and Renetta Canada - are already available on the Italian market.
In August, the Prognosfruit Congress talked about a 5% drop in production, though Melinda is still cautious - "The good temperatures and low rainfall in spring favoured blossoming and the latest temperature ranges make us hope for excellent quality, but we will only be able to know more once the Golden harvesting is over. It is also still too early to assess the effects of this summer's heatwave," explains Michele Odorizzi, president of the consortium.
Golden apples are the only PDO variety in Italy together with Red Delicious and Renetta Canada. They represent 70% of Melinda's total production, a brand which 99% of Italian families are aware about.
16 local cooperatives are part of the consortium gathering over 4,000 families that cultivate around 6,500 hectares of apple orchards in the Val di Non and Val di Sole.
The average yearly production is 400,0000 tons, i.e. 15% of the total Italian production. The consortium exports around 25% of its produce to over 48 countries and, in the past 4 years, has invested over €90 million to serve all its clients with the highest quality standards.
Melinda complies with the strictest national and international certification standards and is now working on an extraordinary project - a hypogeal structure for storing fruit, the only of its kind.
For further information:
Consorzio Melinda Sca
Tel.: (+39) 0463 671163
Email: melinda@melinda.it
Web: www.melinda.it