Modi Apple Off To Promising Start
October 8, 2015 The Modì® apple – red, crisp and juicy – begins its commercial campaign for 2015-16 with an interesting forecast regarding harvest, in terms of both quantity and quality. This news will be well received by the international markets and their consumers.
Overall, the estimated production of Class 1 Modì in the Northern Hemisphere should reach around 15,000 tons. Of this, approximately 70% will originate from within Europe and the remainder from Turkey (Ozler Tarim group), Serbia (Delta Agrar group), and Russia (Sad Gigant group).
The U.S. partners of the Modì Project will this year begin their first phases of retail working with the North American INN (NAINN).
David Rajkovich from Farmington Fresh, the California group that is working to develop U.S. production and marketing of the Modi apple, says “despite a very dry summer that postponed plantings and production, albeit reduced in quantity, the American Modì apples are of excellent quality, both from the aesthetic and organoleptic points of view. The first local volumes for commercial use will be available in 2016-17, in the interim we will be carrying out trials in the U.S. market with imported European product.”
Modì Europa has achieved a total production of about 20,000 tons – which is only slightly smaller than last year, despite ongoing problems related to the closure of Russian borders to European products. Developers believe that the commercial prospects of the 2015-16 campaign remain positive, a view shared by other global regions. India, in particular, is showing once again its extreme interest in the Modì apple – most recently seen during the recent the Asia Fruit Logistica Conference, held recently in Hong Kong.
With regard to the Russian market, despite the European Embargo, Ozler Tarim (Turkey), Delta Agrar (Serbia), and Sad Gigant (Russia), partners collaborated to work with the main retail customers and enhance Modì apple brand value all over Russia.
Furthermore, the global attention on Modì apple is supported by the continued involvement of the Freshmax Group that, after entering via its Australian arm, will now also join to cover the New Zealand market. This will mean a significant increase in production and sales for the next three years in the Southern Hemisphere.
“We are thrilled with the results we have achieved in the Australian market. Modi is delivering a naturally high production rate and has been supported by some strong marketing activities. We are excited to extend our role in the Modi project. The Modì variety has shown incredible potential in the New Zealand market, as well as a high level of interest for the product in Asia.” says Simon Gillett, Freshmax global licensing manager. “We are highly optimistic about Modì’s development across Oceania.”
The same confidence has been voiced by their Uruguayan partners, Frutec. Although they are still only at the very beginning of the process, working through the propagation and distribution of Modi plant materials, Frutec has confirmed their excitement to be involved in this original and attractive variety.
The global entity, Modi International, which coordinates all the partners in matters of strategic marketing, is focusing on the brand development throughout different initiatives.
Modi International believes that a consistent and thorough marketing commitment of all members is critical. On the one hand, trade marketing must raise awareness on the distribution of this variety. And on the other, we must consistently capture the attention of the target audience by using a fully integrated marketing mix through both traditional and digital communication. So far, digital activities include the Facebook pages “Modi Apple” (in existence in Italy, Serbia, U.S., Australia) which have been used to generate ad hoc content, concerning the apple, its features and different ways to enjoy it.
Source: Modi International
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