As part of the China Forum organized in MacFrut, the companies involved in the 
project The European Art of Taste had the opportunity to present themselves to 
the Asian market with a webinar that saw the participation of 111 Chinese 
companies and professionals and buyers in the fruit and vegetable sector.
Renzo Balestri, Sales Manager for the Overseas Market, has introduced Apofruit 
group, one of the largest and most historic cooperatives in fruit & veg. 
sector, which represents 3200 producers, counting on a production of 169,000 
tons and over 237 million in turnover per year.

"The excellence of our products", said Renzo Balestri, "comes from the direct 
relationship with producers and farmers, with whom we build a common path that 
goes from harvest to sale. Once the products are ready, they are immediately 
processed in one of our 12 production plants and then immediately distributed 
or stored under ideal conditions in our storage centers. This allows us to 
follow every process, guaranteeing the consumer the excellence of our 
territories and the safety of products and their genuine taste".

Apofruit has over 9,000 hectares of fruit, both organic and conventional, 
including citrus fruits (1,015 ha), apricots (1,248 ha), green kiwifruit (1,628 
ha) and peaches (1,799 ha). The production of vegetables extends for over 1,664 
ha with an important area dedicated to potatoes (396 ha), onion (301 ha) and 
asparagus (276 ha). The high quality of the productions allowed Apofruit to 
export all over the world, establishing partnerships with Zespri for yellow 
kiwifruit, Sun World for seedless grapes, Star Fruit and New Plant.

"Our presence in Asia has more than 15 years of history", Balestri concluded, 
"This has permitted to create excellent relationships and a strong bond, 
especially for products with a longer shelf life such as apples, pears and 
grapes. We therefore hope that these relationships of mutual interest can 
continue and, over time, become more and more profitable for both countries".
The European Art of Taste project will continue to promote the masterpieces of 
nature and art throughout 2021, involving consumers, journalists and 
professionals in incoming, in-store events and fairs, in partnership with 
European Union and the companies Apofruit, Origine Group, Jingold, King Fruit 
and RK Growers.

For further information and details: www.europeanartoftaste.com; 
www.europeanartoftaste.ch

Source: The European Art of Taste