2025 marks an important anniversary for VOG—Home of apples: 80 years dedicated to its origins, expertise, sustainability, and the development of products and brands.

Today, VOG, one of Europe’s most prominent players in apple production and marketing, comprises 11 cooperatives with over 4,000 producers that grow apples on 10,700 hectares.

Hannes Tauber, VOG's marketing director, told Freshfruitportal.com that the company expects to produce 550,000 tons of apples, or around three billion apples, this year. VOG operates in more than 70 countries, allowing it to adapt to different markets and consumers.

Varietal innovation

For VOG, this topic means introducing and developing new apple varieties that meet consumer needs and adapt to changing climate conditions. This ensures a high-quality and diverse offering throughout the year. Tauber explained: “Developing new apple varieties has always been a part of our DNA. We should consider two important facts: that we have entered a new era of varietal innovation and changes in consumer habits.”

He described three phases in varietal innovation in the apple sector: the 2000s, which established the popularity of Fuji, Pink Lady, and Gala; the 2010s, which introduced brands such as Kanzi, Envy, and Yello; and the current phase, in which they are playing a key role with Giga, RedPop, Cosmic Crisp, Joya, Crimson Snow, and SweeTango.

Therefore, every one of the new apples VOG has placed on the market in recent years has a precise identity and addresses a specific consumer target. For example, Kanzi evokes energy and power, super sweet envy aims to delight the senses with a beauty image, Giga is the mighty apple with a strong aroma just made for sharing, RedPop is the “little big sweet” apple, a natural snack you can take anywhere, Cosmic Crisp is a unique apple with a heavenly taste, offering other-worldly sensations, and many more varieties waiting to be explored.

The other key factor driving varietal innovation is the evolution of consumer habits, which require a flexible approach and constant listening to the market to be able to generate value for the whole network, from the apple grower to the consumer, passing through the very important role of the retailer. “At the same time, especially in Europe, we must attract new consumers with innovative proposals and communication that goes beyond the simple quality and wholesomeness of the apple, which consumers take for granted,” says Tauber.

Vertical integration

Two years ago, the Consortium reorganized centralizing sales and now has an even more efficient internal structure. This change provides the Consortium’s commercial partners with a single reference point for their category needs. Adopting this structure has also completed the vertical integration of the production chain: VOG is a system that includes production, storage, packaging, sales, and marketing.

“Not to mention that our expertise concentrates on just one product, apples. Available in stores year-round and consistently among the top-selling fruits, apples represent a core category in the fruit and vegetable department. What’s more, with our wide array of products and brands, we can build the right assortment to meet the needs of an attractive, diversified store. So today, more than ever, VOG is the Home of apples, the place retailers can turn to for any apple-related requirements and for dialogue and ideas on the department’s category management,” Tauber said.

Vertical integration is an example of how VOG-Home of apples adapts its organization and processes to constantly raise the level of its services and of the dialogue between Apple farmers, customers, and suppliers. “We view this dialogue as crucial for tackling fundamental issues such as the development of the sector, varietal innovation, sustainability, and communication addressed to final consumers to increase their level of satisfaction and thus sales and turnover. The overall aim is to satisfy producers and consumers by ensuring that VOG and its partners work in tandem to increase value throughout the production chain”, concludes Tauber.

Hannes Tauber

The consumer at the center

“To truly engage consumers, we have to reach beyond the product and focus on their needs and expectations,” explains Hannes Tauber,. “We have to communicate how an apple responds to different lifestyles, explain how and when to consume it and use the language of its audience when needed. At the same time, the challenge is to ensure that the product is available at the point of sale when consumers feel the need to buy it.”

Additionally, he said that teaching the consumer to differentiate the taste and consumption moments of apples creates value for the product, similar to what happens with wines, where consumers are aware and care about the whole world behind the production and origin of each product.

Staying in contact with consumers is essential for fruit and vegetables to compete for space and preference in supermarket aisles. Because they know that other products in the basket invest heavily in promotion and brand creation, especially targeting younger audiences, they are willing to invest.

VOG's current season and future projections

Of the total volume projected for this season (550,000 tons), about 515,000 are integrated production, and 35,000 tons are organic." Our apple farmers work on small-scale family farms, meaning they naturally think about future generations. To ensure long-term sustainability, they work to regenerate the soil and protect the environment, all while carefully balancing ecological responsibility with economic viability," he said.

VOG is using hail nets to protect its new apple orchards and anti-frost irrigation to maintain and safeguard the harvest

Many new trees were planted around 2020, and they are starting to come into production, so Tauber expects that production will rise slightly between 5% and 10% and stabilize between 550,000 and 580,000 tons.

Photos courtesy of VOG Apples

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