SAMBOA: the new brand for the 3 apple-sisters Luiza, Venice and Isadora!
“Samboa” will be the brand name, aiming to position all three varieties at the point of sales 12 month of the year. The project focuses on the quality promise of the brand, with a clear mission: “Every day, a wonderful piece of fruit” !
In a crowded press conference Marco Rivoira, CEO of Rivoira Group, welcomed the many journalists of the sector as well as partners from Europe and Oversea to the event.
“It is now 6 long years we have been working on this project“, stated Marco Rivoira, “which we called <the Brazilian Project> as we did not want to reveal the brand name if not in the very last moment: today in Berlin”
Emmanuel de Lapparent, Head of Development at IFO France gave a short flash back on when they first approached in the late 90ties the breeding team at EPAGRI, in Santa Caterina/Brazil, and how out of the many varieties crossed finally the three sisters were selected and tested. “Luiza, Venice and Isadora were chosen for their agronomic characteristics”, said Emmanuel de Lapparent, ”that is resilience to pests, genetic resistance to glomerella fungus, low winter chill requirements, and last but not least because of their astonishing taste and texture: juiciness and crunchiness, paired with a super sweet sweetness!”. Adapted to warm climates the three varieties easily color, and are picked at different times: the earliest, Luiza, has a picking window along with Gala, Venice is picked in late September and Isadora late October.
Gerhard Dichgans, Global Manager of the Samboa Project, said: “The three sisters are perfect triplets to build a new segmentation of the apple category, the SUPER SWEET, which is what a waste majority of the consumers in Europe, Mediterranean markets and in Asia are looking for. Being present on the shelves for 12 months of the year with reliable organoleptic qualities, SAMBOA will be the favourite choice of consumers.” “We have clearly stated our mission: Every day, a wonderful piece of fruit,”continued Gerhard Dichgans, “To keep this promise will be the core of our strategy. And it is possible, as these three varieties have the unique characteristic to be picked ripe on the tree, with full development of flavours and aromas.”
“We want to take responsibility towards the consumer,” concludes Marco Rivoira, “We will set production rules for the growers, and certify the standards by an independent company. “Picked ripe on the tree” will be a quality seal, an additional and integral part of our brand concept.” More about the project and the look & feel of the brand can be seen on the website www.samboa.it, already online.
THE Samboa Project becomes now commercial reality: in spring 2021 the first 30.000 trees have been planted by Rivoira Group in Piemont/Italy, followed by another 125.000 trees of all three varieties in spring 2022, in order to reach the objective of 200 hectares within 2024. New partners in Europe and Overseas have already shown great interest for the project: the global objective is to reach 4000 hectares around the world.
