Just a few days ago the first lorries laden with fresh, in-season Royal Gala hit the road, marking the entry into force of the Association’s new commercial and organisational structure.

Commenting on the 2010 production estimates presented in early August at Prognosfruit, the conference on crop forecasts and trends in the apple sector, managing director Gerhard Dichgans underlined how the predictions also confirm the leading role played this year by South Tyrol.

Despite an 8% fall in volume, growers in the province are expected to produce approximately 1 million tonnes and therefore, barring unexpected developments, almost 10% of the European crop. “European apple production is forecast to be 9,800,000 tonnes, 11% lower than the previous campaign and one of the smallest crops in the last decade. The market therefore looks set to be balanced for this campaign, with good alignment between supply and demand.
“South Tyrol is also expecting a slight drop in volume, after a record year in 2009. However the drop is also partly due to the smaller size of the harvested fruit, whereas the quality and maturity levels are excellent, thanks in part to the cool August weather which resulted in good colouration of the fruits.
“I can confirm that the start of the harvest was delayed by about one week, with the first consignments of Royal Gala taking place in the week after the 15th August public holiday.”

With the start of the new campaign, the Association has introduced a number of important changes to its organisational setup, which is now based on the activity of four pools into which its 17 member cooperatives are evenly divided, according to their production zone. Bozen Süd, Bozen West, Meran and Unterland are the four denominations which identify the new production geography of VOG and the territories corresponding to each pool. Alongside these pools, the Bio Südtirol cooperative markets organic produce. Each group works according to the same delivery, grading and selection rules for the fruit in order to guarantee uniformity of quality standards, as well a continual supply of produce throughout the entire season.

Following the introduction of VOG 2010, the entire sales process is now coordinated directly by the Association through its Central Workgroup, which is formed by a representative from each pool and presided over by the Association‘s managing director. All sales are invoiced centrally by the association, considerably simplifying administration and accounting procedures. The directors of the individual cooperatives still play a fundamental role within the new organisation. They are incorporated into the sales structure, with precise responsibilities in their relevant market.

“On its own,” explained VOG managing director Gerhard Dichgans, “the individual cooperative is not able to stay competitive in the face of global challenges. And this is precisely why we need a new, even more solid, compact and efficient organisation. The new commercial structure,” he added, “will guarantee our members, customers and stakeholders greater simplicity, clarity and personalised, made-to-measure service.”