Apofruit's warehouse in San Pietro in Vincoli (Emilia-Romagna) processed the first Solemio kiwis, which have been shipped today, 25th November from Ravenna's harbour to reach Taiwan and Shanghai.
The decision to face the Asian market with an ad hoc variant of the Solarelli line - the high quality brand which distinguishes the produce from specific areas - had been announced by the Group in September during Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong.
The first shipment consisted of 5 containers, but the objective is to reach 70 containers per year, which could even be more than 100 within the next three years.
Solemio's kiwis are packed in 9 kg cardboard boxes and 3.6 kg basket boxes.
"Harvesting is coming to an end, we have collected 75-80% of the product and only the one from Lazio still has to arrive. While yields in Veneto were lower than the previous campaign, South-Central Italy is in line with expectations," explains Ilenio Bastoni (in the photo below), Apofruit's sales manager.
"We must say that the produce is of excellent quality. In fact, not only the two-week delay in blossoming postponed harvesting by 7-10 days, but the protocol part of the Kiwi Quality Project demand that producers wait until the suitable dry matter levels are reached. For this reason, Apofruit takes the dry matter content as reference and awards those producers who respect the procedures."
9 kg Solemio kiwi cardboard box.
"This year, kiwi stocks from the Southern hemisphere ended early, so demand grew straight away especially from Asia. We have though postponed shipments in order to guarantee a high quality level."
The new practical 3.6 kg packaging also comes with an elegant cover.
"If you harvest at the right time and the dry matter content is high, the shelf-life of fruits will be improved. This will be very important during the second half of the campaign, as the production from the other hemisphere will have decreased."
"The Asian version of Solarelli was carefully studied. The Group appointed an advertising agency to activate a focus group gathering Chinese retailers, buyers and consumers in order to assess the impact of the name and packaging on distributors," says Gianluca Casadio (in the photo below with Ilenio Bastoni), marketing manager.
"In addition to the new logo, the Solemio line also has a brand new packaging with brighter colours like red and yellow, which the Eastern culture associated to luck and wealth. The graphics remained the same in order to remind of Italy and of the high quality produce that is Solarelli."
One of the pallets loaded with 9 kg cardboard boxes.
Each pallet has a 90 x 140 cm panel and additional advertising material to draw attention to the product and to the brand.