Marlene® has launched a new autumn consumer campaign. It aims to strengthen the brand’s connection with shoppers. It also gives retailers more tools to explain apple variety, flavour, provenance and usage at the point of sale.

The “Enjoy the gift of nature” campaign launches on 21 September. It will run across several consumer touchpoints, including in-store activity. Its content is built around the sensory qualities of Marlene apple varieties and the different ways they can be used in the kitchen.

The launch coincides with the South Tyrolean apple harvest. This is a key point in the Marlene calendar, when the annual growing cycle moves into commercial supply.

The first Gala, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples are already being harvested. Other varieties will follow over the coming months, through to Fuji.

According to VOG, the organisation behind the Marlene brand, more than 4,000 apple growers contribute to the production network in South Tyrol.

The campaign aims to build a more direct link between that production base and consumers. It presents apples not simply as individual varieties, but as products shaped by:

  • origin
  • seasonality
  • flavour
  • aroma
  • farming

What the campaign offers supermarkets

For supermarkets, this provides a broader merchandising story for the category. Marlene is not relying only on variety names or colour to set apples apart on shelf. It is increasingly using sensory information and food-pairing ideas to help shoppers understand the differences between products.

The brand’s Aroma Wheel is part of that approach. It describes the flavour, aroma and texture of different Marlene varieties. This gives consumers a clearer guide when choosing between apples.

Food-pairing initiatives will also feature in the campaign. They will show consumers how varieties can be used beyond everyday snacking, in meals and recipes.

That strategy builds on Marlene’s existing work with South Tyrolean chef Norbert Niederkofler. This collaboration has previously been used to show the culinary potential of different apple varieties.

The latest campaign continues a broader shift in how Marlene talks about the brand. In 2025, Marlene marked its 30th anniversary with a creative competition. It invited consumers to interpret the apple through art, literature, music and cuisine.

Further campaigns followed, centred on creativity, origin and the link between apples and the landscape where they are grown. The new “Enjoy the gift of nature” platform makes that connection more explicit.

“For some time now, our narrative has centred on Marlene®’s special bond with nature,” said Hannes Tauber, Marketing Manager at VOG.

“We did this last year with the creative competition to mark our 30th anniversary, which, by portraying the apple as a natural masterpiece, invited people to draw inspiration from its world to create genuine works of art, literature, music or cuisine.”

Tauber said the new campaign brings the positioning closer to everyday consumption.

“Not just high-quality apples, but an invitation to enjoy the gift of nature,” he said.

He added that the approach responds to consumers who increasingly look for brands with a clear identity. It also gives retailers a consistent narrative that can support engagement at the point of sale.

The campaign will use an integrated multi-channel plan across different consumer touchpoints and in-store settings.

The aim is to keep a consistent visual and brand identity. At the same time, it gives supermarkets more content on apple varieties, aromas, flavours and usage occasions.

That can be especially useful in fresh produce. Several apple varieties are often merchandised side by side, and shoppers may not always understand the differences between them.

Marlene’s branded range includes established varieties such as Royal Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Fuji. Other apples are available through VOG’s wider portfolio.

VOG’s official brand information states that seven standard Marlene varieties carry the South Tyrolean Apple PGI designation:

  • Royal Gala
  • Golden Delicious
  • Granny Smith
  • Stayman Winesap
  • Braeburn
  • Red Delicious
  • Fuji

The geographical indication links the fruit directly with its South Tyrolean production origin.

VOG’s scale and the 2026/27 harvest

VOG’s scale also gives the campaign significance beyond a single seasonal promotion. Key figures for the consortium include:

  • 10 cooperatives
  • more than 4,000 producers
  • around 10,700 hectares farmed in South Tyrol
  • about 550,000 tonnes of fruit produced each year, according to current corporate information
  • distribution across more than 70 international markets

The 2026/27 season has also started against a fairly stable production backdrop. In its late-August harvest update, VOG said overall volumes were expected to stay broadly in line with the previous season.

The first Gala harvest began around one week earlier, following high summer temperatures.

VOG also said more than 75% of its orchard area is protected by hail nets. This rises to close to 100% for some club varieties.

These systems are mainly designed to protect fruit from hail damage. They can also reduce solar radiation and help limit sunscald during periods of high temperatures.

For buyers, the commercial relevance of the campaign lies in how those production credentials are turned into something shoppers can understand.

Fresh produce suppliers have traditionally relied heavily on variety, grade, price and origin. Marlene is trying to add another layer to set apples apart within the fixture. It is using:

  • flavour language
  • food pairing
  • provenance
  • consistent brand presentation

That gives retailers more scope to merchandise the category around usage and preference. Apples need not be presented as largely interchangeable products.

The timing is also important. Autumn is when several of Marlene’s best-known varieties enter the market. It is also when consumers are more closely exposed to the new-season crop.

Launching the campaign alongside the harvest lets the brand connect advertising, in-store communication and product availability in the same seasonal window.

The approach is designed to give a consistent framework that can be adapted across different markets and store settings. The Aroma Wheel, food-pairing content and the broader focus on origin and seasonality will form part of that communication throughout the campaign.

The harvest will progress from Gala, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith through to later varieties including Fuji. The success of the campaign will depend on how clearly that story is translated at the shelf edge.

For Grocery Trade News readers, the development also fits into the wider Italian apple sector covered in our Italian apple companies guide. In that sector, branded varieties, origin and retailer-facing category strategies are increasingly important parts of the commercial proposition.

Marlene’s latest campaign shows how that strategy is moving beyond standard seasonal advertising. It is moving towards a more structured category approach that combines provenance, sensory guidance, culinary inspiration and in-store communication.

Editor’s Note: This article is based primarily on a Marlene®/VOG press release supplied directly to Grocery Trade News on 21 September 2026. Additional information on VOG’s grower network, production scale, current harvest, Marlene varieties, earlier campaigns and collaboration with Norbert Niederkofler was checked against VOG’s official corporate and newsroom material.

No unsupported market-share or sales-performance figures have been added.