Europe’s largest fruit and veg producer organisation reveals it achieved a 15 per cent increase in consolidated turnover last year
Apo Conerpo Group, Europe’s largest fruit and vegetable producer organisation, has reported a 15 per cent increase in consolidated turnover to €563mn for 2025 off the back of broadly stable volumes, a result it said highlighted the growing importance of commercial strategy and market diversification in an increasingly challenging production environment.
Over the course of the year, its members supplied a total volume of 954,848 tonnes, down 1.4 per cent year on year but up 24.2 per cent compared with 2023, when floods and late frosts severely affected their output.
While fruit volumes fell 13 per cent, including a sharp decline in apricots and pears, for vegetables the figure was 3.9 per cent higher, supported by stronger output of tomatoes for processing.
The result appears to vindicate the group’s strategic approach, which involves different commercial subsidiaries – Alegra, Naturitalia, and Valfrutta Fresco – as well as other non-consolidated ventures Brio and Opera.
This has apparently enabled it to operate and respond across various different sales channels and absorb the impact of production declines recorded in some crops.
“2025 confirms that the 2024 recovery was not an isolated incident, but the result of the resilience of our cooperative system and the ability of the Apo Conerpo Group and all its member cooperatives to organise, plan, and enhance the work of their producer members,” commented Apo Conerpo president Davide Vernocchi.
The group’s fruit business continued to suffer, however, but was buoyed by a better result in its vegetable sales.
The overall decline in fruit sales included a 40 per cent fall for apricots and a 31 drop for pears, but there were more positive signs in carrots (+17.3 per cent) and kiwifruit (+17.5 per cent).
“These numbers confirm the strategic role of the group’s commercial companies,” Vernocchi continued. “In a year in which some fruit production saw significant decline, the ability to segment markets, promote different destinations, engage with customers, and maintain average prices made the difference.”
He added: “This is where the value of an organisation like Apo Conerpo is truly measured: not just harvesting and marketing produce, but building stronger conditions for the profitability of its member farms.”
Daniele Maria Ghezzi, general manager of Apo Conerpo, said the results confirmed the effectiveness of the group’s strategy. “In a context marked by climate, environmental, geopolitical, and economic instability, we managed to improve on the already positive results of the previous year, while also supporting investments in research and innovation and, above all, generating resources to be returned directly to members,” he commented.
“Contributing to this result were the gradual expansion of the membership base to other regions, which allowed us to diversify the product’s origins and expand the marketing calendar, the increase in the price of industrial tomatoes, attention to costs and risk assessment, and effective financial management.”
