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Italian apples galore
Rome - (Ign) - Its origin is uncertain - perhaps it came from Asia Minor or the Caucasus. But what is sure is that in Italy it spread widely, and subsequently obtained official recognition, becoming known as the "Italian apple". Italy is Europe's largest producer of this juicy fruit, and the third largest in the world after China and the United States. Italy has in fact been awarded three Designations of Protected Origin by the European Commission for apples of the Golden, Rennet and Delicious varieties, grown in the valleys of the Alto Adige, in the far north of the country, by the various consortiums operating in this sector. But Italian apples are also produced in Friuli, in the Northeast, in Piedmont, in the Northwest, and in Campania, whose Annurca apples many experts consider to be absolutely autochthonous.
This is a market worth almost € 1.5 billion per year, with crops varying between 2 and 2.5 million tons per year, depending on the climatic conditions and the spring frost which may hit the more northern production areas. This means about 5% of the world production (which is 45 million tonnes, 22 million of which are grown in China and 5 million in the United States), but over 25% of Europe's, putting Italy in the position of Europe's leading producer and exporter. But it is in Alto Adige that the majority of the production and export activity is concentrated. In fact, its valleys produce around half of all the apples grown in Italy and about 13% of the entire European crop. 18,000 ha have been dedicated for decades to orchards, and this has made it possible to optimise product quality and, at the same time, to develop farming techniques which increasingly respect the consumer and the environment. And it was precisely in Alto Adige, in fact, that for the first time, as far back as the 1980s, techniques were experimented to drastically reduce the use of insecticides, with results that have made it possible to make the final product free from significant levels of residue.
But perhaps the most significant aspect of this sector is the type of businesses: there are as many as 9000 companies, each holding land of only 2 ha, and organised into the large consortiums which are behind the best-known commercial names: Melinda, Marlene and Val Venosta. The Melinda consortium is probably the best known, also because it was the first to be set up, in 1989, to protect the designation "Apples from the Val di Non", which in 2003 was in turn also recognised by the European Commission, who awarded three "Designations of Protected Origin". But the other consortiums have over the years also made a mark, not only on the Italian market, where the quality of the apples from Alto Adige has been recognised by consumers for decades, but also internationally. The record is held by Germany, which alone imports almost a third of the area's entire apple crop, but important export markets also include Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and the whole of the Mediterranean basin.
Basically, a resounding success, due to a perfect balance between seemingly incompatible elements: a fabric of extremely small family-run businesses, a system of cooperatives and consortiums successful on international markets, investment in research and product innovation but also in farming systems, and growing diversification towards the industry of processed apple products, in which the first important successes are being achieved.
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