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Sustainability: VOG Products awarded EcoVadis silverSponsored Post – Sustainability is firmly embedded in the strategy of VOG Products. The prestigious EcoVadis award, the world’s most reliable provider of sustainability ratings for global supply chains, has confirmed the company’s active effort in the entire production process, rewarding it with a silver medal a few weeks ago.

Sustainability: VOG Products awarded EcoVadis silver
Christoph Tappeiner (Photo: VOG Products)

“We are proud and happy to have received this honour, which is an important signal to our customers and consumers: we offer safe, sustainable and high-quality products,” said Christoph Tappeiner, the CEO of VOG Products. 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.

Two years ago, VOG Products passed the «GLOBAL G.A.P. Farm Sustainability Assessment» with the FSA Gold label and since then, has systematically taken next steps. For example, it invested in the continuous development of its own photovoltaic system and now obtains 100 per cent of its power from renewable energy. “We calculated our corporate carbon footprint and verify it every year. By doing so, we can systematically implement measures to increase energy efficiency and further lower our CO2 emissions,” said CEO Tappeiner.

From the field to processing: saving water at all levels

Water is a special focus of VOG Products: with the “Cooling water optimisation” project, the company saved as much water in 2022 as 15,000 people consume in one year – by using the same water twice as cooling water and as transport water.

Water is not only saved on the company grounds in Laives, but also along the VOG Products supply chain: infact, the Laimburg Research Centre collaborated with the Alto Adige Consultancy Centre to develop “Smart Land”, a system that uses high-quality sensor technology to measure soil moisture in the field and connect it to current weather and temperature data. The data are then transmitted via app in real time to farmers, who use it for the needs-orientated watering of the fruit orchards. With “Smart Land”, water savings of up to 50 per cent can be achieved.

Tridge, the global sourcing and market intelligence hub for food buyers and suppliers, has predicted how the La Nina weather system is likely to impact tropical fruit crops – avocado, mango, and pineapple – in parts of South America, Asia, and Australasia. These predictions can help food buyers globally to mitigate the risks of La Nina on their supply chains.

La Nina is a weather phenomenon that occurs every few years including 2020. During La Nina, changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures impact tropical rainfall patterns from Indonesia to the west coast of South America.

Avocado – New Zealand could suffer where Peru could succeed

La Nina is expected to have both positive and negative effects on Avocado.

New Zealand’s avocado growers have been suffering a prolonged dry spell and eagerly awaiting rainfall for 20 months. However, the heavy rain likely because of la Nina could be detrimental to their avocado yields.

Abhishek Dudejja, Engagement Manager at Tridge New Zealand, said, “It only takes two to three days of rainfall for avocado trees suffering from water stress to recover. Although avocado trees need plenty of water, too much can quickly tip the balance and cause problems such as root rot and asphyxiation. The impacts of this include reduced yields, and smaller and lower quality fruits with a shorter shelf life.”

In contrast, Peru, with a favorable geographical and climatic condition in South America could benefit from La Nina. The colder temperatures this weather system causes could help avocados mature more effectively. Irrigation levels are also currently at the right level for a good harvest.

Cinzia Riccio, Engagement Manager at Tridge Peru, commented, “While la Nina might cause later avocado flowering than normal, the cooler temperatures that are likely should reduce the level of pests, protecting crops. On balance, Peru Avocado appears to be a winner from La Nina.”

Mango – problems expected in Peru and Southeast Asia

For Mangos, the prognosis looks poor in several regions. Prolonged dry spells in Peru, added to an already dry 2020 could impact Mango productivity and prices. In Piura, northern Peru, the country’s top mango growing region, there have been ongoing water shortages and 50 % of its reservoir is depleted.

Jin Woo Lee, Market Analyst at Tridge, said, “This year we’re expecting Peruvian mango to be at least 15 % lower than in 2019, which will increase prices.”

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Thailand are experiencing typhoons and facing the prospect of more heavy rain and flooding. This could cause several issues for mango crops, including decreased productivity, internal rotting, canker, and fruit fly, which could mean suspension of exports for phytosanitary reasons.

Pineapple – Costa Rica feels the dual pressures of C-19 and La Nina

Costa Rican pineapples may be scarcer than normal in importing countries such as the US due to reduced demand and supply caused by COVID-19 and la Nina combined. 86 % of US pineapple imports are from Costa Rica, valued at 616 Million USD in 2019.1

Tridge’s Jin Woo Lee said, “COVID-19 has made reefer containers for pineapple shipping to the US scarce. Added to this, heavy rainfall over the past few weeks is affecting the quality of the fruit.”

Since October 2020, Costa Rica’s principal pineapple farming regions, Alajuela and Heredia, have seen well over two and a half times average rainfall2 leading to reduced yield and quality.

One US buyer of Costa Rican pineapples commented, “pineapples are normally sold at retail with a greenish-yellow exterior, which indicates full ripeness. However, over the past month, we’ve been receiving products which are either too ripe or not ripe enough to be sold properly, as pineapples stop ripening after they are picked.”

Despite this drop in supply, export prices to the US have decreased, because COVID-19 has caused reduced demand from US buyers. Equally, the heavy rainfall worsened by la Nina is unnerving Costa Rican suppliers about the quality of their product and therefore its value.

According to Jason Kong, Operations Managers at Tridge, “12kg of Costa Rican MD-2 Pineapples were traded at $6.2 in October 2020 but now they are at $5.0.”

Hoshik Shin, CEO of Tridge, commented: “La Nina will cause a turbulent end to an already difficult year for many fruit growers. It is another reminder of why both food growers and buyers globally need to be prepared for change and disruption and be ready to adapt or switch their supply lines and routes to market quickly using digital trading platforms and expert partners. At Tridge we’re supporting an increasing volume of organisations on both sides of the food supply chain who are seeking this agility.”

1Tridge: https://www.tridge.com/products/pineapple/import/US
2UN Seasonal Explorer: https://dataviz.vam.wfp.org/seasonal_explorer/rainfall_vegetation/visualizations#

About Tridge
Tridge is a global trade ecosystem where buyers and suppliers of agricultural and food products can find everything they need to understand their markets with just a simple search. Using a combination of the latest digital technology and the latest insights gathered through a human network, they provide a very powerful global-scale platform for buyers and suppliers to connect and do business with each other more confidently.
Using a global network covering over 150 countries worldwide, Tridge has developed a comprehensive data set of 300,000,000+ prices and 1,600,000,000+ trade data points covering 1000+ items in the agriculture and food sector and successfully facilitates the B2B and B2C trading of these items. Tridge aims to achieve digitalization and globalization of the trade industry.