VOG apples Italy

Five of Italy's leading fresh apple marketers have come together to form a new sales organisation to promote exports to countries outside of Europe.

The new entity, From, will manage the marketing of apples sold in non-European markets by VOG, VI.P, Melinda, La Trentina and VOG Products, five of the leading names in the Italian apple business and all of them based in the north-east regions of Trentino and South Tyrol.

The organisation will be based at the House of Apples, VOG's headquarters in the South Tyrolean town of Terlan near Bolzano. VOG president Georg Kössler will fulfill the same role for the new body, with Melinda president Michele Odorizzi acting as vice-president.

As the Italian apple business looks to extend its reach beyond traditional markets like Italy and Germany and establish new sales arenas to the east of Europe – most notably Russia, the Middle East, North America and India – a growing sense of common purpose and willingness to cooperate has developed among the industry's leading players.

In a separate development, Italy's four leading apple producer groups – VOG, VI.P, Melinda and La Trentina – reached agreement at the beginning of July to open a jointly managed sales office in Moscow as they seek to build on recent growing demand for their fruit in Russia.

Together, Trentino and South Tyrol account for the large majority of Italian apple volumes, producing around 65 per cent of the country's total crop.