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it workable.”
Greater variety in the apple category also
complicates the job of educating consumers.
“It used to be consumers knew the top six or
so varieties,” says Wescott. “There are getting
to be far more varieties, and you can’t just put
them out there and expect the consumer to
know about them. Six, seven or eight varieties
dominated throughout the last century. Now
the number is at least 20 and not all consumers
know about all of them. At six to eight varieties,
it was a question of good price. Now some fruit
costs more, because it’s hard to grow; but if it’s
good, it will still sell.”
This increased complexity, however, brings
the advantage of being able to offer not just
the first apples, but also the first special apples,
sometimes as early as August.
“Being the first domestic apple to market
isn’t as hard as it used to be,” says Pepperl. “Now
with Aztec Fuji and year-round Gala supplies
out of storage, we maintain great apple displays
year-round. SweeTango is the first apple to
market in the West. We start packing by the
third week of August on SweeTango. It isn’t
just the first apple; it is fantastic. Then Gala
starts several days later. It is important to have
sugars and acids prior to picking and to delight
the consumers on the first try.”
A number of industry resources are available
to help retailers and consumers sort out
this increasingly complex category. “There are
many new proprietary varieties — check out
our website and see for yourself,” says Todd
Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple
Commission, Wenatchee, WA.
One of the major Washington shippers also
has a resource to help match apple varieties
with their uses.
“Stemilt just launched a website that is
called, ‘There’s an Apple for That,’” says Pepperl.
“This site encourages people to find the best
apples for the recipe or use they desire. It is
a fun and easy tool to help encourage using
apples. This will tie in well with retail promotions
and with our social media and food influencers
that we work with. This is real exciting.”
NEW VARIETIES WITH A
HONEYCRISP THEME
Many of the new varieties on the horizon
from Washington are improved versions of
Honeycrisp — the popular apple that practically
invented mouth appeal. But unfortunately
it stores poorly, looks a bit bland on display,
and comes with a legion of problems for the
“One new proprietary
variety that is just
beginning cultivation is
Cosmic Crisp. This is a
Washington State-only
variety with great
expectations in the future.”
— Todd Fryhover,
Washington Apple Commission
growers.
One new Washington State University
cross between Honeycrisp and Enterprise,
named Cosmic Crisp, is already generating
buzz throughout the apple industry.
“Honeycrisp is the variety that is growing
in both popularity and volume,” says Fryhover.
“One new proprietary variety that is just
beginning cultivation is Cosmic Crisp. This
is a Washington State-only variety with great
expectations in the future.”
52 / AUGUST 2016 / PRODUCE BUSINESS