"La mela" is an apple juice brand that uses delicious apples from the Azusa River district of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and was launched in 2022 by Nagano native Ruri Nakazawa.

This is 100% pure apple juice, made in Nagano Prefecture from squeezing to bottling. This time, we have two varieties available: Fuji and Sun Tsugaru.

The background to the launch of "La mela" was Nakazawa's aunt, who is an apple farmer. Apple farmers face harsh conditions such as labor shortages, an aging population, typhoons, abnormal weather, and rising fuel costs, and even if they grow the apples with care and love, they can end up with misshapen shapes or slight blemishes. When this happens, they cannot be shipped normally and end up being sold cheaply as apples for processing. Nakazawa buys these delicious apples that are sold cheaply at several times the price and makes juice.

This is not something that is limited to apples, but an issue for the entire agricultural industry, and Nakazawa started the brand in the hope that people who buy La mela will be able to learn at least a little about the reality of the situation.

In addition, at this fair, we will also be introducing "La mela magazine," which features coverage of the apple orchards used in La mela juice and the farmers who continue to produce delicious apples in an upright manner.

【profile】
Runa Nakazawa
Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1995.
In 2017, she joined the company as a PR professional for a European luxury brand. After launching La mela in 2022, she has been managing La mela's business and working as a freelance PR and marketing consultant.