The first shipments of Swing.bio apples took place over a week ago, marking the launch of the fourth season for this organic apple. This year, no less than 500 tons of Swing.bio are expected in the four production basins which are the Loire Valley, Alps, Languedoc and Southwest. Each year, the volumes are increasing.
“Our orchards are from two to five years old. The trees in the 4th and 5th year are now reaching a production pace that is very interesting. For now, in terms of yields, we are meeting the goals we set ourselves,” explains Baptiste Geoffray, head of innovation and new projects at SICA Gerfruit.
4-year-old Swing-bio orchard
The quality of the harvest looks promising
This year, the harvest looks promising in terms of quality. “We are early this year, with a color that turned out to be quite satisfactory in the end. As for the taste, the sugar levels are exceptional this year, with the full aromas of the Swing.bio.”
Deciding on the harvest date with a producer in a Swing.bio orchard
A two-tone apple that “stands out”
Baptiste Geoffray believes in the potential of the Swing.bio. According to him, the apple has real assets to become a reference among organic apples. “We might have thought that customers would be bored to see another two-tone apple on the shelves but the Swing.bio is really different. We are doing everything we can to make sure this variety stands out and brings real added value to the shelves.
"Today, Swing.bio is the apple that carries all our values, in terms of taste as well as agro-ecology. Last year, the feedback we received was excellent, especially during the last weeks of the campaign. When it comes to taste, this variety pleases a lot of customers, all the way until the end of the season. The Swing.bio also keeps very well over time without losing its great taste quality.”
These are definitely advantages in a context where the organic market is being put to the test. “Today, we cannot afford to have a bad harvest. The competition is such that we must be present on the shelves every year, or we would lose our place.”
2022 harvest
Swing.bio: a real catalyst for innovation within SICA Gerfruit
For SICA Gerfruit, the Swing.bio is much more than an apple. As a true pilot project within the company, the two-tone organic apple was identified as the ideal candidate to meet the company’s agro-ecological ambitions. “We want our orchards to become biodiversity reserves and to have an impact on their environment that is at least neutral and at best beneficial. In order to study this impact, we chose the Swing.bio because it is a variety with natural forms of resistance, which allows us to have the most resilient orchard possible. There are many positive and negative prejudices about agro-ecology. However, in order to know the exact impact of our actions on the orchards, we need to conduct serious and thorough studies on the topic, with the help of entomologists. We chose to start with the Swing.bio and we would like to apply it to our other varieties at a later point.”
Training on living soil with producers
An ambitious communication plan
In order to make the Swing.bio a reference in organic apples, SICA Gerfruit has developed a solid communication plan. “We are proud of our slogan ‘I am for increasing the taste of life’. We want as many people as possible to taste this apple and this year, we are following a very ambitious plan to promote the variety. We want to help our clients to act on the purchasing power of consumers and to continue our animations to promote the Swing.bio.
Ekölo and Ecole Du Sens: a very important partnership for SICA
“We also continue our work with Ekölo and Ecole du Sens, the organizations that work with children and teenagers to develop educational tools. The goal is to develop creativity, autonomy and cooperation for future generations.
Workshop with some children from Ekölo: the Swing producers came to animate workshops on biodiversity and the interactions between plants and insects (July 2022).
Next year, we will also welcome children (from Ekölo) to summer camps in order to make them discover the biodiversity of our orchards.”
For more information:
Baptiste Geoffray
Sica Gerfruit
Phone: +33 6 42 76 89 20
www.swing.bio