The Future of Apples

Apple growers and suppliers are doing their due diligence to ensure their retailers have a continued, reliable year-round of supply, especially given that the collective apple crop from last year is down. This lower volume, coupled with continued inflation hitting both suppliers in terms of production costs and consumers at the grocery store in the form of higher prices, presents challenges but also opportunities for growers to promote lesser-known and even brand-new apple varieties to budget-wary shoppers who are still looking for value in their purchasing decisions.

“Industry-wide, the 2022 apple crop is down roughly 20 percent over last season, which is the biggest challenge we are facing this season,” said Chuck Sinks, Sage Fruit President, Sales and Marketing. “Increased prices in our case are more so affected by the lack of supply, while still maintaining the same demand. Things may feel a bit tight throughout the winter and spring, but our goal is to make sure we have high-quality, year-round availability for our retail partners.”

Strategic partnerships are one way that Sage Fruit is aiming to meet that goal. “This apple season, Chelan Fruit joined the Sage Fruit family of grower, packer, shippers to enhance the marketing, sales and distribution of their Washington-grown tree fruit,” he said. “Through this partnership, Sage Fruit added considerable volume of conventional and organic apples to our manifest. With this great partnership, we have the opportunity to market and sell SugarBee apples. The Sugar Bee is an outstanding apple that consumers have come to know and love.”

Starr Ranch Growers will be bringing its new variety Karma to the table, according to Dan Davis, Director of Business Development. “This is the first year of production that we can roll out to multiple markets,” he said. “We’re excited about adding this later season storage apple to the lineup for our retail partners. This season has been one of new opportunities lending fuel to the category. With a down volume overall it has allowed newer varieties to shine and get in front of consumers.”

Honeybear Growers is preparing to unveil its latest innovation, the Honeymoon apple.

“We are getting ready to introduce Honeymoon apple which is a butter cream colored apple with a great tropical fruit flavor,” said VP of Sales and Marketing Don Roper. “This is a very exciting apple because it hits the three key attributes we are looking for in new varieties: great appearance, wonderful flavor and strong brand name. We think we have all three and have large commercial orchards coming online with more to be planted out. Additionally, our varietal development pipeline has four more varieties in our global testing program that have the potential to have a big impact on the marketplace.”

Roper said the company is also continuing to strengthen its production infrastructure to ensure reliable supply.

“This past year we have added a key production partner in Sparta, MI—Elite Apple Company,” he said. “The Elite team of growers are second and third generation apple growers producing premium apples in one of the best growing regions in the Midwest. We look forward to our partnership with Elite to continue to provide Honeybear supply solutions to our key retail partners.”

Stemilt Growers is backing up its novel apple offerings with a robust promotional program to support its retailers.

“The key for apples going forward is going to be in setting the right mix of products for the right times and planning promotions that drive consumers to purchase,” said Marketing Director Brianna Shales. “At Stemilt, we are obsessive about fine-tuning our variety mix and will be strong in club apples and organics in the coming years. These are still in demand with consumers, and we will partner with retailers to come up with new merchandising strategies, packaging, etc. to drive consumer purchase, and of course quality that will drive their satisfaction.”

There is also a unique and simple story to promoting apples, said Davis with Starr Ranch Growers.

“Our focus has been to make sure the durability and usefulness of fresh apples is highlighted,” he said. “During times of focus on the value proposition of fresh produce, apples can reliably be bought and used without waste. Their durability on the shelf and in the home is as close to a guarantee that what a consumer buys will actually get consumed. That’s something that many commodities in the produce department aren’t able to offer.”

Waste, and by extension packaging, has been a subject the apple industry has continued to grapple with, and like Starr Ranch Growers’ initiative to revisit its plastic packaging, Stemilt Growers has similarly unveiled its new solution.

“We launched a new sustainable package, called EZ Band,” said Shales. “It brings four apples into a paperboard package for apples that has great visibility to the fruit and is 100 percent recyclable. We’ve rolled it out for jumbo sized apples in club varieties and organics and will add other sizes in the future. It is a great solution to help retailers merchandise larger apples in a graband-go package. It also helps ensure the register rings up premium items like organics correctly because it is UPC based instead of price per pound.”

The industry’s focus on sustainable packaging represents just a fraction of environmental initiatives undertaken as consumers increasingly are shopping their conscience in their purchasing decisions. Cynthia Haskins, President and CEO of New York Apple Association, which promotes New York grown apples, said part of the story for the increasing cost of food is in transportation.

“Freight is a large cost and retailers can save by sourcing closer to their operation,” she said. “Consumers want to know where their food comes from, and New York state apple growers are located closer to many of the densely populated cities in the country—so it makes sustainable sense to source apples closest to markets. The New York Apple Association focuses on bringing attention to the trade and to consumers that New York State is the second largest producer of apples and are a closer source for them for apples.”