On my first IFAJ tour stop I spoke with our host, Johann Scholler, Steirerfrucht. They are a fresh fruit packing facility. The main product is apples although they also handle pears and other fruit.

Apples are the number one fresh fruit choice in Austria. After we left the plant we did visit a couple of different apple farms. We were apparently in between seasons when we were at the plant but they were still washing and packing apples. I’ve got some video of it but that will have to wait until later since I don’t have enough time to upload it.

Johann talked about organic apples since his company believes the market for it is growing. In fact, he says some experts are projecting 10-15% growth for the next 5 to 6 years. Like me, he doesn’t see much difference in organic and non-organic other than an emotional appeal since scientifically there’s not any reason to choose one over the other. But you have to give the consumer what they want.

He did say that “organic” trees produce less fruit and that can allow the fruit to obtain a higher sugar content.

You can listen to my interview with Johann here: ifaj-08-scholler.mp3

IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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