Rivoira Group presented at Fruit Logistica Berlin 2022 the long awaited brand concept for the future marketing of the 3 Brazilian apple varieties Luiza, Venice and Isadora. “Samboa” will be the brand name, aiming to position all three varieties at the point of sales 12 months of the year. The project focuses on the quality promise of the brand, with a clear mission: “Every day, a wonderful piece of fruit !”
(l) Gerhard Dichgans and (r) Marco Rivoira with the new Samboa apple varieties.
Marco Rivoira, CEO of Rivoira Group, welcomed the many journalists of the sector as well as partners from Europe and overseas to the event.
“It is now 6 long years we have been working on this project, which we called the Brazilian Project as we did not want to reveal the brand name until the very last moment: today in Berlin," stated Marco Rivoira.
Emmanuel de Lapparent, Head of Development at IFO France gave a short flashback to when they first, in the late 90's, approached the breeding team at EPAGRI, in Santa Caterina Brazil, and how out of the many varieties crossed, finally, the three sisters were selected and tested. “They were chosen for their agronomic characteristics, resilience to pests, genetic resistance to glomerella fungus, low winter chill requirements, and because of their astonishing taste and texture - juiciness and crunchiness, paired with a super sweet sweetness!” said de Lapparent.
Adapted to warm climates the three varieties color easily and are picked at different times: the earliest, Luiza, has a picking window along with Gala, Venice is picked in late September and Isadora late October.
Gerhard Dichgans, Global Manager of the Samboa Project, said “The three sisters are perfect triplets to build a new segmentation of the apple category, the super sweet, which is what the vast majority of the consumers in Europe, Mediterranean markets and in Asia are looking for. As well as being present on the shelves for 12 months of the year with reliable organoleptic qualities."
“Every day, a wonderful piece of fruit. To keep this promise will be the core of our strategy. It is possible, as these three varieties have the unique characteristic to be picked ripe from the tree, with full development of flavours and aromas," continued Gerhard Dichgans.
“We want to take responsibility towards the consumer by setting production rules for the growers and certify the standards by an independent company. 'Picked ripe from the tree' will be a quality seal, an additional and integral part of our brand concept,” concludes Marco Rivoira.
By spring 2021 the first 30 000 trees had been planted by the Rivoira Group in Piedmont Italy, followed by another 125 000 trees of all three varieties in spring 2022, to reach the objective of 200 hectares by 2024. The global objective is to reach 4000 hectares worldwide.
For more information:
Marco Rivoira
Rivoira Group
Tel: +39 0175 280800
Email: info@rivoira.it
www.samboa.it