FROM: ITALIAN ALPS – This supply chain is unique

Sponsored Post – “From: Italian Alps” is the quality promise of VOG Products, the fruit processing company from South Tyrol. A unique supply chain supports their promise. The benefit for customers: seamless traceability and tight controls from cultivation to the final product – be it juice, purée, finished products or chunky products like steamed apples and frozen products.

With around 300 sunny days every year and cool nights, the alpine valleys of South Tyrol and Trentino are an ideal location for fruit cultivation – particularly for the cultivation of apples, which enjoy the best climatic conditions. The farmers attach great importance to dealing with land and its resources respectfully and sustainably. The dedicated producers combine the know-how they have acquired over decades with the latest findings from research and practice. The producers are organised in cooperatives and producers’ organisations that work together in a perfectly meshed structure.

The quality promise “From: Italian Alps” describes the many quality features and strengths of the unique VOG Products supply chain:

• The raw material originated in the orchards of the company’s own members (100 % traceability).
• Short distances: VOG Products processes fruit from the immediate surrounding area.
• The apples are cultivated in an integrated or organic production way. The producers have pledged to uphold guidelines that guarantee exemplary agricultural production and go above and beyond the legal stipulations (e.g., the Agrios guidelines). The organic goods processed by VOG Products are certified by recognised associations (Bioland, BioSuisse, Naturland and Demeter).
• Sustainability is part of VOG Products’ DNA, which is ensured by certification from the orchard to the final product (FSA certification)
• Ripened by the Mediterranean sun and picked by hand: in South Tyrol and Trentino, apples are cultivated under ideal climatic conditions and harvested at the optimum time.

“Along the entire production chain, nothing is left to chance. Our FROM quality promise covers everything from fruit cultivation to the final product and includes the entire supply chain,” said Christoph Tappeiner, CEO of VOG Products. “We know where the fruit come from and which production steps they have gone through.”

Certified sustainability

VOG Products rely on the highest quality standards, which are safeguarded through certifications from incoming goods to the final product. And the sustainable FROM products can be certified by the FSA upon request. VOG Products has passed the Farm Sustainability Assessment in collaboration with producers’ organisations, cooperatives and producers with the highest possible sustainability standard: gold.

Around the globe, the SAI (Sustainable Agriculture Initiative) platform checks the sustainability of agricultural operations against a compact, verifiable standard. This makes it easier for distributors and producers to procure safe, sustainable products transparently and more efficiently. Alongside social, ecological and economic aspects, the platform also collect data on compliance with human rights, working conditions and social standards.

About VOG Products
VOG Products is owned by three producers’ organisations from South Tyrol and Trentino and 17 fruit cooperatives from South Tyrol. Their member base is composed of around 6,000 producers, most of whom are small family-managed enterprises devoted to maintaining and farming their orchards. More information at: www.vog-products.it/en/from