Davis Europe has been working on the Red Love apple for several years now. The apple with its unique red flesh has been cultivated by the Dutch grower Jacco Merkens for seven years and enjoys widespread sales. "We sell more of them every year. By the time we were three weeks in we had already sold more than last season," says Wilm Koemans. This week the company exported the first shipment by air freight to India.
Wilm Koemans with colleague Deby Ganga, who with her Indian roots is responsible for overseas exports
"We hope that more pallets will follow. Our customer could not wait for the boat, which is why we shipped the apples by air. We hope that more will follow soon. If this catches on, we will have a permanent partner and we can start right at the start of the season next year," says Wilm. "We haven't sold the Red Love overseas much yet. Two years ago we did export some apples to Hong Kong, but this is the first order for India."
"We sell these apples throughout Europe. Demand is good in Germany, Scandinavia, France and the United Kingdom. This year we have to deal with the consequences of Corona, because this apple is often sold to the catering industry. As a result, we are now in demand from British farm shops and German fresh specialty shops,” says Wilm. "The sales to the Netherlands are lagging a bit behind, possibly due to the higher price. This unique apple is simply more expensive than an Elstar and therefore very few Dutch supermarkets or specialty stores start using it."
A unique combination is that Davis also offers the Red Love in juice form. These are pressed by Schulp Fruit Juices. In England, this juice won the final of The Great British Food Award with a score of 9/10 for taste. A new development is that the Red Love is also used in lemonades. "De Limonaderij processes the Red Love apple in three flavors with mint, cinnamon and without additives into lemonade. We expect the necessary demand from this, especially in England", concludes Wilm.
For more information:
Wilm Koemans
Davis Europe 
Tel: 0031 (0) 88-2665555