The fruit and vegetable sector is beginning 2023 facing novelties regarding the packaging of its products. On the one hand, Law 7/2022 of April 8 establishes fiscal measures to encourage the circular economy and introduces a special tax on non-reusable plastic containers (the famous 0.45 euro per kilogram). On the other, Royal Decree on Packaging and Packaging Waste will force the sector to sell its products in bulk, with the exception of all fruits and vegetables packaged in batches of 1.5 kilograms, those products that can deteriorate when sold in bulk, and, according to the text published in the BOE, "the fruits and vegetables that are packaged under a protected or registered variety or that have an indication of differentiated quality or organic farming."
"Fortunately, Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soils won't really affect producers of Pink Lady because, for several years, all the containers that we use to pack our apples are absolutely recyclable and are made of cardboard," stated Joan Serentill, manager of Fruilat - one of the companies from Lleida that produces and distributes Pink Lady in Spain- and member of the board of directors of the Pink Lady Europe Association.
Meanwhile, the Royal Decree, as initially drafted, didn't permit adding value to the differentiated products through their packaging without weight limit, even when using sustainable and recyclable formats. “We are not against selling in bulk; in fact, we sell Pink Lady in bulk in supermarkets and have noticed that we also reach consumers with this format. However, in view of the new law, we had designed a container of more than 1.5 kilos for Pink Lady, which would allow us to continue marketing our brand trays that differentiate our product and that consumers recognize."
The law was approved by the Council of Ministers on December 27, including the exception for differentiated quality indications or, as in this case, for protected or registered varieties. "We had the tools to act if the law was approved or not. However, being the president of the pear and apple committee of FEPEX, as well as director of the DO Pera de Lleida, I have always insisted that the pear and apple sector need mechanisms that allow us to differentiate our products with added value in the market," Joan stated.
"This year we'll prioritize sales in the national market"
In fact, thanks to Pink Lady's promotional and differentiation efforts, the brand has managed to position itself in supermarkets within the increasingly competitive apple club segment. This year, in which the weather strongly affected Lleida's sweet fruit production, the Pink Lady has proven its strength far beyond the commercial terrain.
"The frost of April 4, 5, and 6 ended with 40% of the production of Pink Lady in the production area of Lleida for the year 2022/23," Joan stated. "We are practically working with the production that was protected by the antifreeze systems. Fortunately, the area of Girona was affected by frost and the quality of the harvest ranges from normal to high."
"We are working with this 60% volume of Lleida's potential production, but that won't affect the marketing of Pink Lady in the national market, which we'll prioritize over exports in this campaign," he stated. "The heat affected the size of all the apples in the area. However, since the Pink Lady is the first apple to bloom and the last one to be harvested, which makes it the apple variety that spends the most time on the tree, it was able to recover from the delay in growth. Thus, this year's calibers are in line with those of last year. The same thing happened with its color.”
“An apple gets its color because of the difference between day and night temperatures. We were very pessimistic about the fruits' coloration in this campaign due to the heat. However, our apples were able to gain their characteristic coloration before harvesting because they are harvested later than the rest of the varieties."
"In this sense, Pink Lady only brings us satisfaction. It's a resilient apple that adapts perfectly to our climate in the area of Lleida, where it can easily achieve 14-15 degrees brix. Spain doesn't tend to carry out taste competitions, but we usually win the ones that are carried out in the United Kingdom," Joan stated. "The province of Lleida is an extraordinary fruit production region."
For more information:
Pink Lady
www.manzana-pinklady.com
