Custom Drinks has closed a historical harvest. Last month our Chantada facilities in Lugo received over 2.5million kilos of Galician cider apples, a volume never previously reached, even when the yield has been high for apple trees, such as this year.
We have been working to boost the production of this type of apple for ecological cider for years, a commitment to which a growing number of farmers are adhering to.
In fact, this year we have collected around 60% more ecological cider apples than last year.A large part of the apples received at Custom Drinks originate from cooperatives and small farmers from around Galicia. Among the varieties collected are a number of autochthonous varieties such as Rabiosa, Pero, Jamarado, Marafonsa, Ollo Mouro and Ollo Landoi, with which over 1.6 million litres of our Maeloc cider can be made. The production will follow our natural fermentation process, and we estimate that the cider made with our apples will be ready for March 2016.
Maeloc Research Project
In order to help producers achieve a higher yield and improve the quality the raw material, the R&D area of HR Incorp will continue to work on Proyecto Maeloc to catalogue and identify common varieties of Galician cider apple and value them scientifically.
The research process initiated in 2013 is currently still underway. Last spring, apple trees that produced the different autochthonous Galician varieties were planted in five test plots throughout Galicia (Ortigueira, Chantada, Escairón, Guísamo and A Estrada). By observing and analysing
The initiative has the support of the Xunta de Galicia, the CIAM (Agricultural Research Centre in Mabegondo), the USC (University of Santiago de Compostela), Agro-forestry Training and Research Centre of Guisamo and the Agro-forestry Training and Research Centre of Monforte.
