Devil Gala*. (Archive photo)
"It has been available since 2007 but it took a while for it to be fully appreciated because, at the time, everybody was looking for streaked apples. A few years ago, however, streaked apples developed colour problems, so things changed," explains Enrico Zani.
The Vivai F.lli Zanzi stand at Interpoma 2016. Left to right: Riccardo, Enrico and Giovanni Zanzi.
"We started selling considerable volumes of Devil Gala* plants four years ago and things have been improving since then. We sell them both in Italy - mainly Emilia-Romagna, Cuneo, Verona and Bolzano province - and abroad to countries like Russia. We had 400 thousand trees available this year and we have almost run out."
The Vivai F.lli Zani stand at Interpoma 2016 focused on Devil Gala*.
"Abroad, Delicious, Fuji and Gala are very popular. A couple of years ago, we started exporting plants to China, where Fuji is the most popular with orchards covering hundreds of hectares. While this variety is not new in China, they have old types and old orchards so, those looking for something new, choose the latest clones. The Chinese market is expanding, as increasingly more people can now afford to buy fruit."