Q & A with Dr. Roman Seligo

Eva Handels GmbH, Apples from Austria

Q- We’d like to know about Austria’s economic development.

A- The economy is developing well, basically of course though there is a challenging situation in the world; but basically there are segments which are developing well. For example, we are in the fruit business and fruit production is developing well in Austria. That’s already the specific area.

Q- Can you explain what the condition of the fruit business is at this moment in Austria and the rest of the world?

A- Basically, in fruit business we have the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere. We are in the last stage of the campaign in the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere is just starting. So, basically the growth has been larger than last year in the Northern hemisphere, the same in the Southern hemisphere; although Chile has been affected by the earthquake recently.

Q- What are the different markets that you business is focused on? What are your target markets?

A- We are regionally positioned in the heart of Europe, so our focus is on the European market and we offer our exports to Scandinavia, from the North down to the South, to Spain. We sell our offers to Russia and to the South and the North African coast, for example to Libya. We have also going a little bit to the Middle East. We have made recent deliveries to Qatar and we are starting now with our first deliveries to Dubai.

Q- Right now, and following the economic crisis, many people are not buying so many fruits because they are very expensive. What do you think about that?

A- I believe the crisis is not bad for the fresh fruit business. I think it gives potential to send perhaps even more. Of course, the consumer is price sensitive or becomes in times of crisis more price sensitive than in normal periods; but, on the other side, these are the basic knowledge which people meet and exports help you with, which is very important. We see, and we’ve actually recognized some increasing consumption based on difficult market situation because people save a lot of spending, some of which can be easily saved.

For consumers it is important to have good food and, basically, all over the world apple consumption is a little bit going back; but this is not due to the fact that fresh fruit is not on the top of mind of the consumers. It is because of alternative products, alternative fruits or moving in very convenient offers. Basically the consumers have a broad range of products between which they can choose, but we see good potential for exports, even in a difficult market situation.

Q- What are the different types of apple you work with?

A- We have, in the south of Austria, in one of the counties in Austria. Here we have a very specific region with extraordinary climate conditions. So, we have the influence from the Mediterranean area and also from the Alps area.

It is a unique climatic region and, on the other side, we have a volcanic soil. So, we have a very good soil which gives us a very unique taste and flavor of the product and also a very unique composition of the content of the apple. On the other side, we are a small producing area, but a high-quality producing area. We have some little bit less than five acres for each of the producers, which is a relatively small production area on average.

On the other side, we have a good altitude in the production areas and we have big differences between night and day temperatures, which gives really extraordinary climatic conditions for premium taste and unique flavor.

Q- What is the market breakdown these products?

A- Our company collects 75 percent of all Austrian apples. Out of this big crop, roughly 50 percent stays in Austria and the remaining 50 percent is for exports. Basically our marketing focus is clearly on Austria. You can see that here. We use these motifs in all our campaigns, in our billboards, in the trade fares; we have it on our advertising items.

Basically, our main focus is in Austria and, otherwise, we select some regions focus in terms of marketing. These are UK, Germany and Spain, where we have advertising in our printed magazines. We participate in trade promotions and also in trade fares.

Q- Do you work with the mass media?

A- As mentioned, we basically work with mass media in Austria. Our focus is in Austria because here we have high market share. In other countries it doesn’t make sense to focus on ATL. So, basically we focus in marketing on PES and other PTL media.

Q- Why is the market in Spain interesting for you?

A- First of all, Spain that imports apples and there is an old tradition on Austrian apples being delivered to Spain. The Spanish consumer likes the fine balance of our apples between sugar and saltiness or acid, between sugar and acid. For example, the fruits here have a very nice coloration, we have very delicious products which are very well recognized in Spain and also what the Spanish consumer likes is the big size of the apples.