"The trends observed during the second part of last season still apply. It is still difficult to export to North African countries, due to political and currency problems but, luckily, as Asian countries and the Middle East are showing quite a bit of interest in Italian apples, it looks like our destinations will shift that way."
Harvesting in Valtellina. (Photo by Melavì)
From a production and commercial point of view, the start of the campaign is in line with last year. "In the beginning, we expected Gala volumes to be higher, but instead we harvested 2,900 tons compared to the 3,100 tons we had calculated. Now we are finishing with the harvesting of Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Morgenduft, of which volumes are in line with the past season (i.e. 11,000 and 12,000 tons for Golden and Red Delicious respectively). We will then harvest Fuji apples, with volumes around 1,000 tons, and other late varieties like Pink Lady®. Total production should be between 28 and 30 thousand tons."
"Quality this year is really good from all points of view - colour, appearance and shelf-life. This summer was particularly great for apples."