BayWa Obst launches the 2022 organic apple season with attractive qualities and new grading and packing technology.
Numerous hours of sunshine and optimal weather conditions after blooming have resulted in high quality organic apples at Lake Constance: a perfect starting point for the advent of the new pome fruit season, with exiting news for the customers of BayWa Obst GmbH & Co. KG (BayWa Obst) and its sales partner Obst vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (OvB). Not only is the “Bio-Obst vom Bodensee” brand celebrating its 20th anniversary, but the modernised and expanded organic packing station at the BayWa Obst site in Ravensburg is also going into operation.
“Our customers can look forward to particularly attractive and tasty fruit this year,” says Hans-Josef Stärk, Head of Organic Operations at BayWa Obst. “A high sugar level, optimal fruit sizes and our appealing range of varieties promise a season that will leave nothing to be desired for our customers.” In addition to wholesalers and organic food retailers, BayWa Obst, together with OvB, has been focusing on supplying German food retailers for over 20 years. Markus Schraff, Head of Organic Sales at OvB, has good news for customers: “From the week beginning 29 August, we will start marketing the popular Santana variety and then successively expand the range to include Elstar, Gala and other attractive varieties”. These will also include typical organic varieties such as Topaz, Natyra® and Galant, which, like Santana, have a higher resistance to diseases by nature, requiring fewer plant protection measures.
“Bio-Obst vom Bodensee”: a success story in organic fruit.
BayWa Obst ventured into marketing organic fruit back in the mid-1990s. Today, the company can look back on a 20-year success story together with OvB. “We started with organic apples for the processing industry, and in 2000 we began selling apples for fresh consumption from the conversion to organic farming,” says Hans-Josef Stärk. Today, there are 30 organic growers who mainly cultivate pome fruit in a cohesive area of more than 600 hectares around Ravensburg. Increasingly, they also produce berries and stone fruit. In close cooperation between growers and sales, the range of products has been further developed over the years in line with demand. Each grower belongs to one of the organic associations Bioland, Naturland or Demeter. Some growers also produce according to organic-vegan guidelines. “All farmers that have switched to organic production in the last twenty years have remained so to this day,” says Hans-Josef Stärk, underlining the successful development that has led to a proud organic share of 25% in BayWa Obst’s apple business.
Expansion of grading and packing capacities for higher performance and optimised product management.
In the early years of marketing organically grown fruit, BayWa Obst set up an exclusive organic wholesale market in Ravensburg for the collection, grading and packing of fruit. This helped ensure efficient and responsible handling. The site is currently investing extensively in new sorting technology and additional packing lines. “With the expansion of capacities and the installation of a new, significantly more efficient apple grader, we are underlining our high-quality standards for an efficient and forward-looking organic fruit business” confirms Hans-Josef Stärk. The new technology will then also enable internal quality control and, for example, identify fruit affected by internal browing or watercore, which allows for optimised product control. The modernisation and expansion will double both the grading and packing capacity for plastic-free packaging. “We are now in the position to offer our customers completely film-free packaging options,” adds Markus Schraff. In addition to cardboard packaging, this also includes nets made of cellulose. By installing a grader for pears with connected packing belts, the organic pack-house in Ravensburg is also taking the growth segment of organic pears into account.
“With the expansion of the organic pack-house, we are taking another step towards strengthening our German fruit business and developing it further in a customer and market-oriented manner,” says Benedikt Mangold, CEO of BayWa Global Produce. “The development of organic fruit from Lake Constance is a success story spanning more than 20 years, which we have written in close cooperation with our organic growers. Our diversified positioning with various products and business models is essential for greater resilience in both the national and international environment. This allows us to leverage the trends and potential in the fruit and vegetable sector.”
As a wholly owned subsidiary of BayWa Global Produce GmbH, BayWa Obst GmbH & Co. KG collects freshly harvested fruit directly from associated growers of Wüttembergische Obstgenossenschaft Raiffeisen eG in southern Germany and markets it in Europe and new markets worldwide. Together with its sales partner Obst vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH, BayWa Obst GmbH & Co KG focuses on supplying German food retailers with apples, pears, berries and stone fruit from integrated production and organic farming.
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