The CIV represented by its Variety Manager “Marco Bertolazzi” as international guest at the seventh edition of PomaExpo 2019 Chile

After the CIV (https://civ.it/)’s participation in the annual meeting of the INN – the international network of the most important companies operating in the fruit nursery sector held in Pucòn, Chile on 18-19 March- the CIV was invited to Chile for the seventh edition of POMAEXPO, an initiative organized by ANA (association of Chilean nurseries, https://anachile.cl/) and the University of TALCA. The event took place on May 28th in Talca and the international guest this year was CIV, represented by its Variety Manager (Business Development Dpt.) “Marco Bertolazzi”.

“ANA – explains Bertolazzi – was born in 1998 from the synergy of four private companies leaders in the fruit nurseries sector and it deals with activities very similar to those of the CIV (which, by the way, is also an association of nurserymen), namely the introduction, testing, marketing and commercial development of new varieties of fruit. ANA is currently engaged in the commercial development projects of some new fruit varieties, bred by both public and private organizations located in many countries: Italy, Spain, South Africa, Chile, the United States, etc., covering the entire initial part of the supply chain from the new variety to the distribution of the plants”.

“In particular – Bertolazzi emphasizes – ANA, in addition to having under evaluation many of the apple varieties of the CIV (which, incidentally, we hope to bring to market soon), is responsible for managing the propagation of commercial plants of our CIVG198* Modì® apple variety, which is now the protagonist of an international Club project, where Dole is the partner responsible for the production and marketing of the branded fruit in Chile and other Latin American countries”.

POMAEXPO is an annual event that represents an important opportunity to share with Chilean producers and operators technical-scientific and commercial information, updates on climate data and to present new varieties under evaluation and/or ready to be launched on the market. Given the importance of the participants, this initiative always offers an important opportunity for discussion, which takes place in the final round table where it is possible to open debates and opinions sharing on the most sensitive issues and challenges that the Chilean apple industry has to (and will have) to face.
At the Chilean event Marco Bertolazzi presented both ‘The Main Apple Breeding Programs in Italy and Europe’, in which, as guessed from the self-explanatory title, – summarizing the main active breeding programs in Europe – and ‘The Plant Variety Developments and Business Models: the Experience of the CIV’ where he focused on issues related to the development strategies of plant varieties illustrating the experience of the CIV at the international level, the projects it works on and the objectives it aims to pursue.‘I also focused – Bertolazzi continues – on the management aspects, in part from an academic perspective, that are related to the development of new varieties/products and on the sustainable management of the supply chain to then, at the end of my second presentation, mention some commercial projects of the CIV related to different varieties that prove how, at a practical level, some of the theoretical concepts previously mentioned have really been put into practice by our company and have allowed us to create greater synergy among all stakeholders involved in the development of our varieties.’

Bertolazzi concludes by stressing that ‘very often we focus too much on the intrinsic qualities of the variety, which must undoubtedly be able to satisfy the consumer, but sometimes we underestimate the importance of the selection of business partners, the business model, the services offered, technical assistance in the field, an effective policy of branding and positioning, etc., just to mention a few highly topical and relevant issues.’