More sustainable apples and pears

There are a number of challenges associated with the cultivation of pip fruit. For example, pesticides are used to make trees more resistant. However, this is not without negative consequences for bees, biodiversity, the quality of groundwater and, last but not least, human health.

Migros is thus striving to make the cultivation of pip fruit more sustainable through our sustainability programme for conventional pip-fruit cultivation.

1. Reducing the use of pesticides: Eradicating all pesticides results in less fruit being produced, which makes them considerably more expensive. Pesticides help to reduce crop failure and storage losses. However, we omit certain sprayed products entirely and use others in a more targeted way. To achieve this goal, we promote alternative methods such as plant netting and the mating disruption technique, which prevents insects from reproducing. This technique employs neurotransmitters that prevent male pests finding females.

2. Actively increasing biodiversity in orchards: For example, in the form of nesting boxes, rows of flowers along paths and roads, and stone mounds in which animals and plants can make a home.

3. Improving soil quality: Using compost and wide tyres on agricultural vehicles that travel on the paths and roads makes soil more vivacious and fertile.

Financial support

We work together with farmers with the aim of ensuring that apples and pears are grown more sustainably. Migros provides producers with expertise and financial support to assist them in switching to more sustainable cultivation methods. This specifically means that we pay all producers an additional CHF 0.06 per kilogramme for their apples or pears. The Migros pip fruit programme was adopted as the national industry solution for the fruit industry in 2022.