The Italian cooperative applies technological innovation using two criteria that set its philosophy apart: quality and naturalness.
The Association of Fruit and Vegetable Growing Cooperatives from Val Venosta continues to innovate in its fields, where it applies integrated crop techniques (92% of its production), aimed at respecting the environment and the naturalness of the fruit as much as possible.
But this philosophy is also upheld in its infrastructures. VI.P is opening its third automatic warehouse, located in the TEXEL cooperative, with an automatic connection to the processing room. The premises has capacity for 16,000 bins, with a technology that is unique in Europe, which manages the passing of the bins in a fully automated way, using twelve packaging lines; therefore forklift trucks are only present in the lorry loading and unloading area.
“To a lesser or greater degree, this technology extends throughout all our cooperatives, aimed at raising the quality and the service, at the same time as decreasing our environmental impact”, Michael Grasser, head of marketing at VI.P points out.
The implantation of these technological advances increases VI.P’s flexibility for instant access to the great volume and variety of produce available in the automatic warehouse, offering clients their exact orders, responding to their requirements, and then preparing these at top speed.
Work at a constant temperature of 2.5 degrees is also important as it naturally lengthens the shelf life of the produce with a low environmental impact. And the FIFO (First in, First out) system, which is applied in the storage, guarantees the freshness of the fruit.
VI.P also has photovoltaic systems installed onto the cooperatives’ roofing that decreases electricity consumption. Currently VI.P has 63,000 m², with a capacity to produce 10.8 million kWh every year. This allows a reduction of 6,100 tonnes of CO² and contributes to minimising the ecological footprint of production by Manzanas Val Venosta.
Marketing Campaign. VI.P is strengthening its marketing and communication strategy, proclaiming the importance of the fruit seller as the opinion leader for the produce, in a clear commitment towards local business. With this aim, promotions and materials have been designed for the fruit and vegetable shops and for the second year running the Fruit Seller’s Day will be held.
Furthermore, the cooperative is starting off its campaign on the media with the launching of a commercial on the Internet that shows the new brand image and will strengthen its presence in online and offline headlines, in both the sectorial and general press through adverts.
