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Heusenstamm (dpa / lhe) - The Hessian cider presses want to better market typical local specialties together with other producers.
Like the Hessian hand cheese and the Frankfurt green sauce, apple wine is one of the few products in Hesse that is protected by the European Union, said the chairman of the Association of Hessian apple wine and fruit juice presses, Martin Heil, of the German press agency in Heusenstamm.
These products stand for Hessen and embody the tradition and culture in the state.
"We see a lot of potential there."
“When it comes to quality, we don't have to hide from any product in the world,” says Heil.
"We see great opportunities for these products, especially outside of Hessen, to advance them."
The Association of Apple Wine Presses wanted to take the lead in approaching the companies that produce hand cheese and green sauce and talk about a common platform for advertising and marketing campaigns.
Since there is an extensive pot of funding from Brussels, it is also important that the responsible Hessian ministries are involved in the talks.
Hessian cider, green sauce and hand cheese bear the EU quality mark “Protected Geographical Indication”, abbreviated PGI. This means that these products must at least have been produced, processed or manufactured in Hesse.
Other German products such as Black Forest ham also bear the protected quality seal of the European Union.
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After the significant losses for the industry due to the corona pandemic, the cider presses were hoping for an early relaxation of the strict requirements, especially for gastronomy, said the association chairman.
According to initial estimates, sales in the industry fell between 10 and 20 percent last year.
But there are also companies where the year-on-year decline is up to 50 percent.
Since the fixed costs for the companies are still high, price increases for cider cannot be ruled out in the future.
According to Heil, 35 wine presses are organized in the association and thus almost all businesses in Hesse, including 40 cider farmers from Frankfurt.
The number of employees in the predominantly family businesses is around 400. Around 40 million liters of cider are produced in Hesse each year.
About two-thirds of the apple wine goes to the grocery store, the chairman explained.
A third is supplied to the catering and traditional retail sectors.
How the harvest will turn out this year will also be decisive for the economic situation of the cider presses, said Heil.
In the past two years the yield has not been good.
The wineries are also concerned that the orchards in Hesse are in an increasingly poor condition.
The trees are consistently overaged.
The apple trees would have suffered from the very dry weather recently.
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In rare cases, the meadows would have to be protected from pest infestation, said the CEO.
The fact that pesticides can no longer be used for the orchards that are affected by the new measures because of the new requirements for insect protection could become a problem for the preservation of some trees and for the cider harvest.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210213-99-423105 / 2
Association of the Hessian apple wine and fruit juice presses