“Overall the country’s apple crop is looking good in quality and size this year,” said Wendy Brannen, director of consumer health and public relations for U.S. Apple Association in Vienna, VA. “Reports are that we’re looking at 243 million bushels, which is off only a few percentage points from the August estimate. We see this as a typical year for U.S. apple production.”

Wendy Brannen, director of consumer health and public relations for U.S. Apple Association.Brannen spends the majority of her time working on issues related to what her title implies — consumer health and public relations, and she’s a fighting spirit for both causes.

“One of my first assignments when I joined the association last spring was to go to New York with some others on a spring media tour that we titled ‘The Art and Science of Apples,’” she said. “Joining me was USApple Education Committee Chair Suzanne Wolter and Chef Heather Hartman, who serves on the USApple Harvest Public Relations’ team.”

Wolter is also the director of marketing for Rainier Fruit Co. in Selah, WA.

“Together we met with 17 editors and reporters at nine major magazines in two days,” said Brannen. “We shared the latest apple health and nutrition studies while serving up a menu designed to inspire new apple recipe features.”

“The Art and Science of Apples” featured stops with Epicurious, Family Circle, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, More Magazine, Prevention, Reader’s Digest and Redbook.

Brannen’s primary contribution on the tour was the “Art” of apples, from the delicate craft of growing, picking and storing apples to the many ways they can be incorporated into meals. Meanwhile, Wolter shared the “Science” of apples, reminding media of apples’ antioxidant powers as a superfood easily found in every supermarket. Along the way, Hartman plated beautifully executed dishes such as Apple-Blueberry Compote and Tuna-Apple-Tarragon Salad that epitomize the simple, artful beauty of the fruit. Hartman’s tasty recipes also provided opportunities to discuss apples’ essential role in disease prevention.

These leading consumer magazines often work months, even more than a year out, so there may be more to come from the tour, but as of December it had resulted in 12 stories, which was triple the goal set by the tour committee. That media coverage resulted in 55 million impressions, which surpassed USApple’s 2012 numbers.

“The media coverage was across the board; health, nutrition, recipes, flavor profiles and more,” said Brannen. “The variation of stories and magazines that published them tells us that we hit a broad range of consumers, such as those who are mainly interested in health and nutrition information to home cooks who just want new and delicious recipes to prepare for their families.

In 2014, the group plans to take the tour to other areas of the country. While it maintains its close contact with New York editors, it will be visiting the Meredith Corporation publishing company in Des Moines, IA, and with Hoffman Media and Southern Progress Corporation, which publishes Southern Living among other journals, both located in Alabama.

Brannen also works with NYApple’s health research sub-committee.

“We have recently received proposals for more studies to continue to solidify the health benefits of apples, and we’ve narrowed the studies down to three areas; weight management, diabetes and healthy aging,” she said. “We are now looking at the funding for these projects in the coming months. The information that comes back to us will go with us on next year’s media tour.”

In October, which is national apple month, NYApple kicked off its new “AppletizeMe” campaign. This online destination matches website visitors’ personality traits to their ideal apple variety.

The campaign materials read “Are you a social butterfly? That makes you a Gala apple, the core of the in-crowd but always making everyone feel welcome and good inside. How about an intellectual? Easy as Pi. You’re a Ginger Gold. Fitness fanatic? Then you’re a Fuji, living proof that crunches are worth the effort.”

The www.AppletizeMe.com website not only reveals a person’s true apple with a special illustration, but also identifies perfect food pairings, such as caramel dips, cheddar cheese slices and walnut butter, to accompany the variety.

“USApple developed ‘AppletizeMe’ as a health and nutrition initiative to inspire consumers to learn more about apple varieties, apple pairings and apple’s many health benefits in a fun, engaging and social environment,” said Brannen. “Our partners in the campaign are T. Marzetti Co., California Walnuts & California Milk Advisory Board, which promotes its ‘Happy Cow’ cheese line as a pairing.”

She pointed out that the campaign added another 20 million consumer impressions by the end of November, surpassing by far any that the organization has enjoyed in the past.

“It often takes something lighthearted yet catchy to get us to try something new,” said Brannen. “The fun of ‘AppletizeMe’ is that it encourages us to walk outside of our typical apple-buying habits to check out different varieties and how we can eat them. And, I love that, by combining apples with our ‘AppletizeMe’ partners’ products, we can also promote healthy new snack and meal solutions.”