For years, Italy has been the most important country of origin for organic agricultural products for us. A network of producers, which has grown over the years, enables us to offer a broad range of organically grown products. While the North (South Tyrol and Trentino) is known for its high quality apples, Emilia Romagna mostly supplies quality pears. The Lazio region is the largest Italian growing area for kiwis, followed by the Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Calabria regions. In Salerno, we grow our own baby-leaf salads for the food processing industry, with the highest quality standards, storage conditions and delivery reliability. We get citrus fruits from Sicily, which are usually available from October to May. A variety of organic vegetables and organic salads are available from September to May, with growing areas running from Sicily to Apulia to Vinschgau (Val Venosta, South Tyrol). There, we grow many types of vegetables on our own organic farms.

We also place the highest demands of quality, shelf life and delivery reliability on our partners in Spain. We grow aubergines, cauliflower, peppers, various types of tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, broccoli and much more in the Almeria region, one of the largest regions for growing vegetables in Europe. In Murcia, we produce our own lettuce varieties, including Batavia, radicchio, Apollo and iceberg. The cultivation is orientated towards the food industry and follows clearly defined guidelines; our certifications are a guarantee of our compliance.

In the north of Israel and on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a sub-tropical Mediterranean climate prevails with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. The conditions there are ideal for agricultural production, the majority of which is intended for export. Israeli farmers work closely with the government and have created an efficient agricultural economy using progressive methods and equipment, technological innovations and new irrigation techniques. Israel supplies us with peppers, cherry tomatoes, vine tomatoes and cucumbers. The main cultivation area for vegetable varieties is in Arava.

Throughout Germany, there are numerous fruit and vegetable growing areas that produce all kinds of produce. The Palatinate region is particularly important as a sourcing region because the Mediterranean climate makes the region ideal to grow fruit and vegetables in great quantities and of outstanding quality. On average, farmers from the Palatinate region produce their products four weeks earlier and for a longer period of time on the market than other vegetable-growing areas in Germany. Another important growing area is the ‘Knoblauchsland’ (garlic country), one of the largest continuous vegetable growing areas in Bavaria. The cultivation area comprises approx. 385 hectares of open ground and 30 ha of crops under glass. The main products in the region are both freshly harvested salads and seasonal vegetables. The Rizzi Group produces apples, salads, cress, sprouts, courgettes, fennel, cherries, greens and mushrooms from Germany. Our partner farms for stone and pip fruits are at Lake Constance and in Thuringia.

Chile uses 7% of its total area for agricultural cultivation, whereby the main growing area is in the large long valley. The country in the temperate south of America is one of our longstanding partners. Thanks to an agreed supplier programme, Chile supplies us with direct imports of apples and green kiwis with outstanding organic quality.

Via direct imports, the Argentinian partner farms have been supplying us with top quality, organic pears, apples and kiwis for many years. The cool, temperate climate in Northern Patagonia offers optimum conditions for fruit production.

Agriculture in South Africa produces a broad range of plant products. High yields enable the country to supply many continents with fruit, in particular citrus fruits. We get organic lemons, oranges and grapes from South Africa with its main growing areas in West and North Cape as well as Augrabies/Orange River.