yello® – the demanding yellow one

A look behind the scenes with Erwin Blaas

Cultivating a new apple variety we have little experience with is not without risk. We South Tyrolean producers are well aware of that but not discouraged from it. Because we would always like to be one step ahead in terms of varietal assortment and quality. We have cultivated a new club variety characterized by its bright yellow peel and an unusual aroma since 2017. yello®, a premium apple from Japan, however, is not easy to cultivate. But I (and a few others) have accepted this challenge.

A Val Venosta producer with vigor

Hello, I am Erwin Blaas from Laces. I decided to continue when others would have thrown in the towel. When I took over the farm from my father in 1995, I was only 20 years old and had to completely rebuild it. Then I brought my orchards up to date. That was a really difficult time.

No reward without risk

The efforts have paid off. Today I manage two farms together with my wife and my two sons. One is in Laces, the other one is in Lacinigo in Castelbello. We respect the guidelines of integrated production, a natural and resource-saving production. Thanks to much commitment we are among the best in terms of quality.

A perfectly normal producer

I nevertheless don’t feel superior to others. We just work very carefully and precisely. And it has to be that way, otherwise I can’t sleep at night. I am only fine if my trees are fine.

My passion

Fruit cultivation is my passion. Apart from thinning out small apples in summer and harvesting in autumn I do all the work alone with my family. That is especially important for yello®. These canary-yellow apples with tropical aromas are quite difficult in cultivation and often only have low yields. But this doesn’t deter me – quite the contrary.

What the farmer does not know

Choosing the right varieties is a challenge. You have to try out a lot and to adapt to new trends, unlike in the past. There is hardly anything I can’t do with diligence and hard work. If necessary, I even clear young trees. Because I always want to be one step ahead and offer unusual varieties to apple lovers.

More light

I deliberately keep my trees slim so that my yello® apples get a lot of light to develop their typical yellow color. I use a special defoliation machine for even more sun exposure shortly before the harvest, which removes excessive foliage with air pressure. But that is not all.

My insider tricks

In spring, I make cuts into the trunk for more new shoots. We then thin out all excessive apples by hand during several picking phases. This allows us to have a good yield during the next year as well.

The yellow ones in the pot...

I harvest my yello® apples in three or four picking phases and only if they have a nice yellow coloring. I then get help from our motivated sons Simon and Markus. They are our pride and joy – and the future of our agricultural business. It is very important to me to have a healthy business that will produce quality apples in future as well.