Sponsored Post – VOG Products, the South Tyrolean fruit processing company, not only processes increasing quantities of organic apples, but has also expanded its portfolio with Naturland-certified products. Of vital importance for customers is the regional origin of the raw materials that are sourced from the producer organisation’s members.

Supplies on the market for organic apples have changed enormously. In Trentino-South Tyrol, which is home to the largest producers of organic apples in Europe with the producer organisations and VOG Products’ members VIP and VOG, 56,944 tonnes of organic products were harvested in 2018. The figure in 2022, in contrast, was 92,412 tonnes.

A trend that is also continuing in the organic quantities being delivered to VOG Products. In the 2022 financial year, this figure had already climbed to more than 32,000 tonnes. VOG Products processes and refines every third apple grown organically in Trentino-South Tyrol.

“We have been supporting this dynamic development for many years and are pursuing the objective of further expanding our leading position in the organic sector”, Christoph Tappeiner, CEO of VOG Products, explains. “We have been continually expanding our portfolio of organic products.”

VOG Products supplies high-quality products with the seal of the Bioland and Demeter organic farming associations and has also obtained the Bio Suisse certification. VOG Products has supplemented its organic range very recently with products certified according to Naturland standards. Naturland is the largest international association for organic farming in Germany and its guidelines go far beyond EU regulations. They also include targets for social responsibility and other key aspects of sustainability.

Play it safe with members’ products

What stands out about VOG Products is that organic raw materials are sourced from its own members in South Tyrol and Trentino. “Organic to us means ‘members’ products’, and this is recognised on the market. This gives our products a clear identity,” Tappeiner emphasises.

Full traceability back to the committed organic producers in the region – mostly small family farms – is coupled with strict controls along the entire supply chain. VOG Products guarantees safe, inspected and healthy food as well as continuous availability and security of supply year-round. This unique supply chain is presented by VOG Products under the name FROM Italian Alps (further information can be found at https://www.vog-products.it/en/from).

Customers’ demands in the baby food industry are particularly stringent. This continues to be one of the key customer segments for VOG Products in the organic sector. The semi-finished organic products are in demand among baby food manufacturers due to the strictly controlled supply chain as well as their high quality. The private label business of the food retail trade is gaining significance in the apple sauce sector, but organic also plays a major role for the apple juice industry.

Along with juices, concentrates and purées/pulp – also available in convenient small-sized packaging such as the “Bag-in-Box” – the South Tyrolean producer organisation also supplies organic-quality frozen fruits, cut and canned products and steamed fruits.

VOG Products, the South Tyrolean fruit processing company, not only processes increasing quantities of organic apples, but has also expanded its portfolio with Naturland-certified products. Of vital importance for customers is the regional origin of the raw materials that are sourced from the producer organisation’s members.

Supplies on the market for organic apples have changed enormously. In Trentino-South Tyrol, which is home to the largest producers of organic apples in Europe with the producer organisations and VOG Products’ members VIP and VOG, 56,944 tonnes of organic products were harvested in 2018. The figure in 2022, in contrast, was 92,412 tonnes.

A trend that is also continuing in the organic quantities being delivered to VOG Products. In the 2022 financial year, this figure had already climbed to more than 32,000 tonnes. VOG Products processes and refines every third apple grown organically in Trentino-South Tyrol.

VOG Products supplies high-quality products with the seal of the Bioland and Demeter organic farming associations and has also obtained the Bio Suisse certification. VOG Products has supplemented its organic range very recently with products certified according to Naturland standards. Naturland is the largest international association for organic farming in Germany and its guidelines go far beyond EU regulations. They also include targets for social responsibility and other key aspects of sustainability.

What stands out about VOG Products is that organic raw materials are sourced from its own members in South Tyrol and Trentino. Full traceability back to the committed organic producers in the region – mostly small family farms – is coupled with strict controls along the entire supply chain. VOG Products guarantees safe, inspected and healthy food as well as continuous availability and security of supply year-round. This unique supply chain is presented by VOG Products under the name FROM Italian Alps.

Customers’ demands in the baby food industry are particularly stringent. This continues to be one of the key customer segments for VOG Products in the organic sector. The semi-finished organic products are in demand among baby food manufacturers due to the strictly controlled supply chain as well as their high quality. The private label business of the food retail trade is gaining significance in the apple sauce sector, but organic also plays a major role for the apple juice industry.

Along with juices, concentrates and purées/pulp – also available in convenient small-sized packaging such as the “Bag-in-Box” – the South Tyrolean producer organisation also supplies organic-quality frozen fruits, cut and canned products and steamed fruits.

According to the scientific study conducted by Professor Christian Fischer of the Free University of Bolzano, the company contributes to a 10% reduction in harvest losses in the apple sector.

An estimated 22 % of fruit and vegetables are lost every year during or immediately after harvest. Much of global food waste therefore occurs at the beginning of the value chain, long before products reach the market.

Through its activities, VOG Products contributes to reducing this phenomenon, thanks to its business model, to efficient planning and the significant technological investments made in recent years. The South Tyrolean producer organisation is one of the largest in the sector in Europe and processes about 70 – 80 % of the Italian industrial apple harvest (20 % of the Trentino-South Tyrol harvest).

The validity of the anti-waste model adopted by VOG Products is demonstrated by a recent scientific study conducted by Christian Fischer, Professor of Agricultural and Food Economics at the Free University of Bolzano, which was also presented at the 2022 International Horticultural Congress in Angers (France).

In the study, titled “The apple processing cooperative VOG Products as a role model for minimising post-harvest crop losses – an empirical case study from South Tyrol, Italy”, Professor Fischer demonstrates how VOG Products significantly contributes to reducing harvest and post-harvest losses in the apple production chain. While internationally apple wastage averages 20 % of the harvest volume, with VOG Products food loss in Italian apples drops to 6 – 10 % (depending on the year).

“Food waste is not inevitable,” comments Christoph Tappeiner, CEO of VOG Products. “With good organisation and investment in innovation along the supply chain, product losses can be significantly reduced, providing a triple win for producers, consumers and the environment.”

The FAO specifically refers to food loss as “the waste of edible food in the production, post- harvest and processing stages of the food chain”. Besides the wastage of the food itself, food loss also entails environmental costs in the form of loss of land, water, factors of production and labour, and leads to greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
For VOG Products, food loss already starts with the company’s mission statement: apples destined for industrial processing are those with minor quality defects (too big, too small or not enough colour) or do not meet the quality standards of fresh fruit, and therefore cannot be sold on the table apples market.

“VOG Products is an international model for minimising harvest and post-harvest losses in the apple supply chain,” remarks Prof. Fischer. “VOG Products also generates significant added value for members in the region by giving them a fair and sustainable payout price.”

Growers who deliver their apples to VOG Products’ members (VOG, VIP, La Trentina and 18 cooperatives) receive an average of 4,000 euro per head or 1,400 euro per hectare for their apples for processing. The producer organisation also creates jobs for around 210 employees. The industrial fruit enhancement strategy pursued in recent years strengthens the region’s high-quality image of table apples, based on a win-win approach that rewards all operators along the supply chain. Generating value for the economy, people and the planet.

Sponsored Post – VOG Products attaches the utmost importance to sustainability, quality and product safety along the entire supply and production chain. This is also evidenced by the EcoVadis silver medal and SGF membership.

The sustainable and careful use of resources runs through the entire production process at VOG Products – from field to processing, particularly since the South Tyrol fruit processing company is closely linked through its members to regional farming, which is based on a long tradition of growing fruit.

“We know where the raw materials come from and which production steps they have gone through. This traceability to the source and comprehensive quality controls along the entire production line are key prerequisites for creating safe, sustainable, high-quality products”, Christoph Tappeiner, CEO of VOG Products, emphasises.

VOG Products belongs to three producers’ organisations from South Tyrol and Trentino, plus 18 cooperatives from South Tyrol. The membership comprises around 6,000 small, family-run operations: fruit-growers who tend their orchards with passion and devotion.

The entire supply chain is involved

Sustainability is firmly embedded in VOG Products’ strategy and is actively implemented throughout the production process. This was also recently confirmed by EcoVadis, the world’s most reliable provider of sustainability ratings for global supply chains, which rewarded the efforts of VOG Products with a silver medal. The silver status means that VOG Products is among the top 25 per cent of all companies rated. The EcoVadis rating looks at environmental aspects, as well as employment and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

Criteria that also play an essential role for VOG Products as an SGF-certified member. “SGF” stands for the fruit juice industry’s “Sure – Global – Fair” industrial self-regulation, which has established in this a voluntary control system (VCS) for all the production and trading stages of its products. In other words, the quality, safety, authenticity and sustainability of juices, fruit nectars, and other products made from fruit are controlled on the global market and action is taken against food fraud. This is how SGF guarantees fair competition and compliance with legal and industrial quality and safety standards.

The control system includes factory inspections as well as checks on semi-finished and finished products throughout the entire supply chain. Specifically, this means that the suppliers are also included. They are subject to checks on hygiene, traceability and documentation, for instance, and they adopt the Code of Conduct, which regulates environmental and social aspects.

VOG Products are represented on the SGF Executive Committee by their CEO, Christoph Tappeiner.

Sponsored Post – The fruit processing company VOG Products is the world’s largest producer of organic apple juice, concentrate and purée at one location. This year’s harvest in South Tyrol and Trentino provides outstanding conditions for premium quality and high-value products.

The Trentino-South Tyrol region on the southern side of the Alps looks back at a long tradition of fruit cultivation. With 300 sunny days per year and cool nights, the climate there is ideal. This is reflected in the taste and aroma of the fruit that VOG Products processes and refines.

2021 has proven to be an excellent year for apple quality in South Tyrol and Trentino. The weather conditions are currently optimal for the harvest. During the day, the sun shines down on the apple fields and the cool nights ensure that the colour will be intense. The Gala apples harvested this year are a brilliant red colour that is seldom seen – even the apples from areas where colouring does not easily develop are bright red.

VOG Products, the modern fruit processing company headquartered in Laives, belongs to 4 producers’ organisations from South Tyrol and Trentino and 18 cooperatives from South Tyrol with more than 10,000 members. Most of them are small family operations that care for their apple orchards with love and devotion.

Pioneer in Europe

Agriculture is acknowledged for its great importance throughout the region. After all, dealing with land and its resources respectfully is firmly embedded in the culture there. In this spirit, sustainable production is a matter of course for local fruit growers, many of whom have embraced organic cultivation. “Biosüdtirol and Bio Vinschgau have now become the largest organic producers in Europe,” explained Senior Key Account Manager Martin Bristot, who is responsible for the organic sector at VOG Products.

Organic apples now make up around 10 % of the total harvest in South Tyrol. Despite frosty nights in the spring, the official harvest forecasts indicate that the organic proportion in South Tyrol will remain constant in 2021. As compared to the previous year, in Trentino organically cultivated apples should record growth of around 20 %.

The figures show a trend: in three years, the quantity of organic raw goods delivered to VOG Products has more than trebled. As a result, the fruit processing company from Laives is now the world’s largest producer of organic apple juice, concentrate and purée at one location. VOG Products continues to source its organic goods exclusively from its members’ members: the around 10,000 farmers from the growing area.

Bioland: a guarantee of quality

Top conditions at the location, tightly meshed quality control and traceability back to the farmers are particularly valuable in the organic sector. But VOG Products goes a step farther. “VOG Products is Bioland-certified or rather, a portion of our suppliers provide Bioland goods,” said Bristot. The seal has more stringent guidelines than those laid down in the EU regulation on organic production. “In Germany, the most important market for apple juice, the organic niche is growing: the quantities demanded are increasing significantly,” Bristot added.

“In combination with South Tyrol as the region of origin, these quality aspects are important for many purchasers and during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have become even more important.”

Renowned companies in food retailing have also recognised the potential and are jumping onto the organic bandwagon. “They aim to convert a certain percentage of their assortment from conventional to organic. We are primarily observing the trend in Germany, but France, Austria and the Scandinavian countries are all following suit,” explained Bristot. “That is giving the saleable quantities of direct apple juice an enormous boost.” But in the affluent exotic markets in Asia and the US as well, consumers are very aware of organic quality.

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The ideal climatic and agronomic conditions in the Trentino-South Tyrol region provide VOG Products with a clear mission in addition to high-quality raw goods in secure quantities: what began on the region’s fields continues in the fruit processing facilities.

Trentino-South Tyrol looks back on a long fruit-growing tradition. After all, the climate with 300 sunny days per year and cool nights is ideal – growing conditions that are naturally reflected in taste and aroma. It’s no coincidence that VOG Products was established there in 1967. The great importance of agriculture is generally acknowledged throughout the region. Dealing with land and its resources respectfully and sustainably has always been firmly embedded in the culture there. There are good reasons why Trentino-South Tyrol regularly ranks at the top in comparisons of quality of life across Italy.

The region’s apple farmers can rely on a unique centre of excellence: a network comprising cooperatives, consulting structures, and renowned research institutes such as the Laimburg Research Centre, the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, and NOI Science and Technology Park supports them with advice and assistance.

Along the entire production chain – from qualified staff to state-of-the-art infrastructure –, nothing is left to chance. Each production step is structured and monitored. “That’s what is so special about this region,” affirmed Christoph Tappeiner, CEO of VOG Products. “It turns origin into a guarantee of security. We benefit from an ideal agronomic setting in which decades of experience are consciously combined with innovative approaches.”

This interplay ensures that technical aids and know-how are always at the cutting edge. For example, three-quarters of the areas under cultivation have frost-protection sprinklers, ensuring quantity security even in the event of freak weather.

The varietal strategies are another key indicator for innovation and advanced development. “On the one hand, if we think of Golden, the varieties are an expression of tradition. On the other hand, development takes place continuously in order to lift the region to a new level,” explained Tappeiner. New varieties such as Envy, Cosmic Crisp, Crimson Snow, Sweetango, Giga, Red Pop, Ambrosia, Enjoy, Morgana, Bonita and Tessa represent the new level. “This range of different varieties covers the entire spectrum from light to dark and sweet to sour.”

A total of 28,000 hectares of apple plantations make the Trentino-South Tyrol region Europe’s largest contiguous growing region. VOG Products processes and refines every fifth apple from the region.

“We know where the apples come from before they land in our safe, competent hands. Controlled, good raw goods are the indispensable basis for a safe, high-quality product,” said the director of VOG Products.

Today, the fruit processing company in the heart of the Dolomite Alps belongs to 18 cooperatives in South Tyrol and Trentino and 4 producer organisations with more than 13,000 members, most of which are small family operations that care for their apple orchards with love and devotion. A level of care that is decisive, particularly in the growing organic sector. By the way, South Tyrol is the only province outside of Germany with an active Bioland regional association.

“We put all our effort into continuing and supporting what began on the fields – thanks to processing that is monitored 24/7, innovative technologies, state-of-the-art methods of analysis and plants, and qualified staff,” said Tappeiner to summarise VOG Products’ mission.

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VOG Products processed over 30,000 tonnes of organic fruit in the 2019/20 business year. Many factors, starting from the South Tyrol – Südtirol location and the partnership with Bioland, underlie the growing demand.

From 2017 to the present the organic percentage of the output of VOG Products, the modern, innovative fruit processing business in Italy’s South Tyrol – Südtirol region, has tripled. But why is interest in certified organic foods growing so strongly? The answer is apparently simple but actually implies a great deal more: because organic is added value.

“Customers identify it with a healthier product: people want to make a choice that’s good for them, for the environment they live in, and also for nature. This is certainly a trend, but for an ever-increasing number of people it’s more than that: a lifestyle and a new experience”, we are told by Martin Bristot, who works in the organic sector as Senior Key Account Manager at VOG Products.

An Organic brand also represents trust: VOG Products only purchases organic fruit from its members in Trentino-South Tyrol, mainly Bio Val Venosta and Bio Südtirol. “Through traceability back to the farmer, we are able to give the market a strong, clear signal: we know who grows our organic products with hard work and passion,” Mr Bristot confirms. “Since the European market’s two biggest organic producers are members in our owner cooperative, we enjoy preferential access to raw material. Basically, we are able to access supplies all year round.”

Through the partnership with Bioland, VOG Products takes another major step forward: almost all its organic raw materials also meet the Bioland standards. “The whole chain, starting from the farmers through the cooperative to VOG Products itself as processing company, is certified from A to Z, so the final product is certified, too”, Mr Bristot explains.

This label’s private law requirements are much more stringent than the criteria enforced by law on the EU’s biological label: farmers implement the seven Bioland principles, which also embrace the circular economy, biodiversity, and the maintenance of soil fertility to combat global warming. A Bioland farm has to operate in accordance with 100% environment-friendly standards, and the use of fertilisers and pesticides is also more strictly controlled. When it comes to processing, fewer than half the food additives approved under EU organic production regulations also meet the Bioland conformity criteria. In general, with Bioland, additives and auxiliary materials, processing methods, packaging, labelling and the quality guarantee are specifically tailored to each group of products, and tight restrictions are often imposed.

Over time, major food retailers have recognised its potentials and have brought their strategies into line with the Bioland standards. Once again, VOG Products benefits from its location in South Tyrol, the only province outside Germany to have a Bioland association.

The market is particularly receptive to pulps and fruit juices for children. “We are able to differentiate our products in order to satisfy even the toughest standards on organic foods for infants”, Mr Bristot adds.

VOG Products also benefits from members’ variety of products and forward-looking varietal strategy: “We can also offer an organic version of variety growers’ club apples such as Pink Lady. On request, we are even able to supply a single-variety product”.

Recently, demand for organic products has recorded constant growth, a trend of which VOG Products is well aware: although in the 2017/18 business year it processed only a little over 10,000 tonnes of organic produce, this volume rose to about 20,000 tonnes in 2018/19 and passed the 30,000 tonne mark in 2019/20. Output of organic apple pulp and juice more than doubled in the same period.

In the future, the added value of organic output will become more and more fundamental for VOG Products: in the years to 2023, the cultivated land used for organic production will be expanded by about 10% per annum.

VOG Products is an innovative company specialising in the processing of apples and other fruit. It is owned by 18 cooperatives in South Tyrol and Trentino and four producers’ organisations comprising over 13,000 family-run enterprises. Every year, VOG Products process more than 300,000 tonnes of raw goods to create healthy, safe products for the international market.