Josep Maria Font – Page 4

Candine, the new apple that Giropoma has started to commercialize

This March, Giropoma has launched the commercialization of Candine. This apple originates from France and is the result of a cross between the Fuji and Ariane varieties.

A sweet, aromatic and fresh apple, it is characterized by its slightly flattened shape, smooth and shiny red skin with yellowish-green areas. It reaches maturity at the end of September, and keeps until June, as it is a variety that keeps very well.

Its organoleptic qualities have nothing to envy to other varieties. It has a crunchy and juicy texture, a high sugar level that mixed with a moderate acidity creates a refreshing and balanced flavor. Candine is an apple that is very well accepted in the market, thanks to its characteristics, which contribute to the desire to eat it again.

This is the first year that the company is marketing it, with the aim of consolidating it over the years. It will be available in different formats; single-layer boxes, trays of 4 or 6 pieces and bags.

In addition to Regalyou marketed under the Candine®, the apple trading company also produces other varieties such as Gala, Golden, Red Delicious and Granny Smith varieties, which are under the umbrella of the PGI Apple of Girona, the Fuji and the club varieties, the Cripps Pink marketed under the Pink Lady® brand and the Cripps Red marketed under the Joya® brand, as well as organic apple, identified as GiroBio. Each with its own characteristics, apples are an indispensable part of a natural and healthy diet, and are balanced and nutritious.

The organic production and marketing line, the Giropoma’s new commitment

Recently, Giropoma has opted for a new line of production and marketing, the organic apple, identified as GiroBio. Organic production uses biological control of pests and diseases, and favors biodiversity in plantations, with the aim of obtaining high quality products that respect the environment and human health.

This new channel has been the result of market demand and the company’s customers, who have detected the need to satisfy a segment of the population highly sensitized and aware of organic products.

In 2016, Giropoma started working on organic production in an experimental farm, with varieties of commercial interest and other varieties adapted to organic cultivation. From these, the most interesting ones for organic production were selected, from which commercial farm planting began in 2018. Years later, at the beginning of this 2023, the commercialization of this new organic line has started.

To access this market, the company has been certified by the Catalan Council of Organic Agricultural Production (CCPAE), the organic certification that guarantees that the products have been produced or elaborated following the rules of organic agriculture, and that they have been controlled throughout their production, processing, packaging and marketing process.

Giropoma is currently distributing this organic line in national supermarkets, with the aim of consolidating this new channel, combining it with conventional production, which follows the principles of integrated production. For the company, future expectations are foreseen to be successful thanks to the youth of the apple trees located in the farms of the partner-producers.

Giropoma attends the 38th Fruit Day organized by the Institute for Agrifood Research and Technology

Giropoma attended the 38th Fruit Day that took place on February 16, 2023 in Tallada d’Empordà, specifically at the Institute for Research and Technology in Agrifood (IRTA) of Mas Badia, the organizing center of the event.

A technical conference aimed at all those interested in apple growing, who are looking for answers and innovations for the production of apples to become sustainable and quality. In addition, part of the information presented is the result of the INIA projects “VUMOC” PID2019-109686RR-100, PECT “Girona, water sensitive region” and the Operational Group “SCABKILL” (Operation 16.01.01 of Cooperation for Innovation of the RDP of Catalonia 2014-2020).

The day was led by Lugui Manfrini from ECOPOM Lab of the University of Bologna with precision fruit growing, from thinning to harvesting and from sensors to robotics, as well as the trends that will mark the coming years. Next, Joaquim Carbó, an expert from IRTA, spoke about the most interesting apple varieties and their vulnerability to heat waves.

Regarding apple irrigation management, Joan Bonany and Jaume Casadesús, experts from IRTA, together with Gerard Arbat from the University of Girona, presented how we have irrigated during 2022 and how we will have to do it in 2023.

Other IRTA experts, Glòria Àvila and Pere Vilardell, spoke about organic fertilization and sustainable agricultural production, respectively. Jordi Cabrefiga, closed the day talking about the strategies to fight against the motejat, alternaria and glomerella in the context of reduction of phytosanitary products.

An event with more than 160 attendees, which also featured an exhibition of the most interesting apple varieties.

Giropoma participates in Fruit Logistica in Berlin, the world’s leading trade fair for the international fresh produce business

One more year, Giropoma has participated in the Fruit Logisitca 2023 Fair that took place from 8 to 10 February 2023 in Berlin. For more than 15 years the company has been present at the world’s leading trade fair for the international fresh produce business, an ideal opportunity to strengthen relationships with customers, share impressions and establish contact with key target groups at the decision-making level.

Fruit Logisitca is the main stage for the latest innovations and encompasses all areas of the fresh produce business, from logistics, machinery, technical systems, technology, among others. A fair that occupies more than 110,000 m² bringing together the entire spectrum of the fruit and vegetable sector under the motto “All in One”.

Giropoma’s space was located within the stand of the Protected Geographical Indication Poma de Girona, together with other companies that also take part, each of them with their own section. At the Giropoma stand, the fair attendees could find corporate information and a sample of the main formats marketed. The director, Àlex Creixell, and members of the Giropoma sales team were also present at the stand.

This successful edition brought together 2,600 exhibitors from 92 countries and more than 70,000 comparators and professional visitors from over 135 countries around the world, closing with very positive figures that indicate an increased interest in the sector.

This 2023, the fair has celebrated its 30th birthday, marked by innovation, and with high expectations for the next edition, which will take place from February 7 to 9, 2024.

Giropoma starts planting new apple tree farms, which will last until March

This month, Giropoma has started the planting of new apple farms, which will take 1 and a half to 2 months, depending on the weather. Everything will depend on the rainfall during the next weeks, which could make it impossible to access the worked fields for a few days.

Prior to planting, the company’s producer-partners have prepared the land by working the soil to make it suitable for the trees. When the field is prepared, soil preparation compound is generally applied to improve organic matter and to favor nutrients for the plants.

Subsequent to the soil work, the location of the poles and anchors, which will form the structure of the farm, and the irrigation system are marked.

Subsequently, a trench is opened between the poles where the roots will be buried, and the wires that will support the apple trees are placed, together with the wires that will fix the trees.

Finally, the apple trees are planted and the nets are installed, which are mainly used to prevent hail damage, sunburn and help mitigate the wind.

As for the varieties that are decided to plant, they are chosen according to the needs of Giropoma and the grower, who is advised by the company with the aim of continuing to offer the best apples to consumers.

For Giropoma, teamwork and communication with grower-partners are essential to obtain good results and to guarantee quality and service.

Giropoma’s new commitment to technology: mechanization of the tray packing line

Technology has always been a big bet for Giropoma. Innovation is part of the company’s DNA and, therefore, it is key to mechanize and automate processes as much as possible. Recently, the company has made a new commitment to technology and has mechanized the tray packaging line, which has recently started operating, to streamline the process, reduce packaging time, increase responsiveness and be more efficient, flexible and competitive.

The main objective of robotizing this line has been to minimize handling, reducing processes that do not add value and improving quality, since it allows avoiding possible blows, tray defects…, as well as increasing yield.

As for the process followed by the apples, after storage, they have been automatically selected by means of a machine for this purpose, the precalibrating machine, which classifies them by size, color and quality. Once precalibrated, they are stored in a cold room at a temperature of around 3 °C until they are packed, in this case in trays.

This new line is packaged in sealed trays with a label. Currently, there are many different types, but until a few years ago, we only had one made of cardboard and PVC plastic film, which has been replaced by more environmentally friendly and sustainable options. Thus, we have opted for cellulose trays sealed with a label, the most common 4 and 6 pieces, which differ from the traditional ones because the wings are attached by the label and surround the fruit inside.

Sealed format with label

Reducing the handling of apples has also been a key element of this new line, thus extending their shelf life.

It should also be noted that the fact of automating this process has eliminated the manual handling of boxes, a strategy that contributes to Giropoma’s continuous improvement of the labor quality of the company’s workers.

Giropoma participates in Pink Lady®’s annual technical meeting to share the experience of irrigation based on soil moisture sensors

For the twentieth consecutive year, Giropoma has attended the annual Pink Lady® technical meeting that took place last December 12, 2022 in Bolzano, Italy. This is an event to promote and maintain technical contact at the European level, a space to share experiences and knowledge with people from all over Europe. This edition brought together approximately 200 attendees; Pink Lady® technicians, managers, presidents, producers… from Italy, France and Spain.

This year, Pink Lady®, of the Cripps Pink apple variety, wanted to highlight several topics related to irrigation systems, taking into account the low rainfall and water scarcity in which we find ourselves. For this reason, Giropoma has actively participated through the presentation of Cesar Saiz, technical director of the company, who spoke about our experience in recommending irrigation needs based on soil moisture sensors.

In 2018, Giropoma implemented a system based on soil moisture sensors to indicate the humidity and water available for the plants. It is a composition of 70 sensors spread throughout the productive area which, through the extracted data and a climate forecast, allow us to give weekly irrigation recommendations to our growers. These recommendations are useful for them to know if they have to increase irrigation, or on the contrary, decrease it, or keep it the same.

This system has resulted in a 25% reduction of irrigation water compared to the method previously used and has allowed us to realize that sometimes we have to advance the irrigation campaign, while indicating the optimal time to stop irrigating.

Giropoma’s 7 apple varieties: properties and benefits

Giropoma faces the final stretch of the 2022 harvest, which will end in early December with the Joya variety. Despite the difficulties in coloring some of the varieties due to this year’s hot weather, the harvest will be characterized by good apples, with an optimum level of sweetness and high quality.

The apple producing and marketing company kicked off the 2022 harvest at the beginning of August with the Gala variety, followed by Golden and Red Delicious during the month of September. In October, it was the turn of Granny Smith and Fuji, followed by the Cripps Pink variety marketed under the brand name Pink Lady® in November and Joya at the end of the same month and beginning of the following month.

These are the main characteristics of our varieties:

– Gala: red striated apple on a creamy yellow background. It is crunchy, sweet and has an acid point that gives it a very good taste balance.

– Golden: soft-skinned apple with a greenish-yellow color. It is crunchy, sweet, with very little acidity and white flesh.

– Red Delicious: deep red apple, usually of large caliber. It has a whitish flesh, sweet flavor and is very aromatic.

– Granny Smith: deep green apple, very round with whitish lenticels. It is crunchy, has a whitish flesh and a very characteristic acid taste.

– Fuji: light red apple on a green-yellow background. It is very sweet, crunchy and juicy.

– Pink Lady® (Cripps Pink variety): apple that stands out for its bicolor tone between reddish pink and pale green. It is crunchy, juicy and combines sweetness and acidity in a balanced way.

– Joya: an apple with an intense red color. It is crunchy, sweet and with a touch of acidity.

Each of the varieties with its own characteristics, apples can be considered the queen of all fruits. They are an indispensable part of a natural and healthy diet and are balanced and nutritious.

They help prevent cardiovascular problems and inflammatory diseases, as well as helping to digest the fats we consume. They provide a large amount of fiber that helps the digestive system to function properly, are rich in vitamins and minerals and have antioxidant and vitalizing properties.

Giropoma is committed to energy self-consumption, thanks to an installed capacity of 550 kW of solar panels

At Giropoma we are committed to green energy and sustainable production. Currently, we have 550 kW of photovoltaic solar panels that generate approximately 22% of the company’s energy. These panels take advantage of the energy from sunlight, through the photovoltaic effect, which generates electric current.

We are committed to this type of energy because it is renewable, unlimited and abundant. In addition, it is the cleanest and greenest energy available, since it does not generate greenhouse gases.

According to data from the Register of Self-consumption in Catalonia, in September 2022, there were 208,376 kW of installed photovoltaic self-consumption power in Catalonia, 130% more than at the end of 2021.

Source: Regsiter of Self-consumption in Catalonia

In terms of Territorial Services, Girona is in second position in terms of installed photovoltaic self-consumption capacity with 36,116 kW, behind Barcelona, with 118,554 kW.

Source: Regsiter of Self-consumption in Catalonia

In addition, at Giropoma we have replaced most of the company’s lighting with LED lighting, which means significant energy savings for the company, longer bulb life, is environmentally friendly and produces low light pollution.

We also have an electric car charger for our employees, vehicles that have been on the rise in recent years thanks to greater environmental awareness and their increasing popularity.

We are very aware of sustainability in the field. We use biological control methods to reduce the use of chemical products, we promote biodiversity in the fields to deal with possible pests, we minimize water consumption through specific irrigation systems and we reduce waste.

In the coming years, we plan to increase the number of photovoltaic solar panels to increase the percentage of green energy produced.

Pink Lady®, one of the varieties produced by Giropoma, organizes the initiative ‘Adopt a tree’

On Saturday, November 5, the day ‘Adopt a tree’ took place in Tallada d’Empordà. The Pink Lady® group, promoter of this initiative, organized an outing to one of the fields of Giropoma so that all the people who had previously adopted a Pink Lady® tree, of the Cripps Pink variety, and had followed its evolution throughout the production cycle, could get to know the farms, the producer and harvest their own apples.

The objective of this initiative is to bring the world of agriculture closer to the people, making known the production cycle of apples and how they are harvested, and discovering the process that apples follow from the field to the plate on our tables.

A total of 160 apple trees were harvested by their godfathers and godmothers, taking advantage of the Pink Lady® harvest, which begins at the end of October and lasts throughout November.

WhatsApp Image 2022-11-05 at 1.32.34 PM (2)

WhatsApp Image 2022-11-05 at 1.32.34 PM (1)

Pink Lady® is an apple that stands out for its bicolor tone between reddish pink and pale green, it is crunchy, juicy and combines sweetness and acidity in a balanced way. It contains natural fiber that helps to improve intestinal transit and reduce cholesterol levels, is an antioxidant, provides the daily vitamin C needed by the body and contains 80% of water.

In addition to this one, Giropoma markets other varieties such as Gala, Golden, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji and Joya, each with its own properties and benefits. Balanced and nutritious, the apple can be considered the queen of all fruits, an indispensable part of a natural and healthy diet. A bet for health and well-being.