Initial spring projections from New York apple growers called for a solid season of regional varieties with volumes expected to return to the previous three-year average. As picking of early varieties began in mid-September, the crop has shown even stronger results than anticipated.

Brett Baker, president of United Apple Sales with orchards and packing facilities in western New York, has seen ideal growing situations in the region, which is yielding an increase in volume and sizing, and producing great color.

“We are always cautiously optimistic as we head into a new season," said Baker. "This spring we had great weather and fortunately no major weather events over the summer. The fall, with its warm days and cool nights, has been near perfect for the crop’s increased volume of apples. Sizing of fruit is peaking in the preferred retail sizes of (100– 80 count).”

Local favorites such as Cortland and Macs started picking in mid-September and have shown good volume and sizing.

Harvest of Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp and Red Delicious are well under way with tremendous size, color and flavor.  The largest crop to date of Pink Lady will harvest around Nov. 1.  Club varieties – Ruby Frost and Snap Dragon – are harvesting now and EverCrisp is scheduled to harvest the last week of October.

Eastern Region Honeycrisp
Baker noted that regional Honeycrisp is looking exceptionally strong. Last year there was good quality and color yet the crop was down overall. This year the Honeycrisp crop has rebounded with increased volume and anticipated sizes peaking in (88 to 72 count)  “New crop, high-color fruit is nearly all in storage now and we anticipate it keeping very well into next year. With the overall strength of this year’s crop and increased storage capabilities, eastern Honeycrisp will be available for late spring and early summer promotional activities to support this variety’s No. 1 position in the apple category.”

Response to Consumer Demand
United Apple continues to grow and add new varieties and diversified packaging to help its retail partners meet changing demands from consumers. Club varieties – EverCrisp, Ruby Frost and SnapDragon – are developing a stronger consumer following as they are locally grown, and offer their unique flavor profiles. Each variety has seen double-digit growth in volume and consumer sales over the past three years.

Snap Dragon and EverCrisp are expected to harvest an additional 25 percent this season with better sizing and color for United’s retail partners. Snap Dragon is off to a great start with multiple promotions slated for the month of October.

Baker said that the orchards of the new apples are maturing and the United Apple team is gaining more experience in specific growing techniques to maximize the varieties’ quality and color.  “We anticipate a 20 percent increase in production with club varieties as our orchards are in their seventh and eighth year of production, yielding more volume and offering consistent sizing and eating quality.”

Since Ruby Frost and EverCrisp are late season varieties, they help retailers extend the traditional apple season. In addition, they are great storage apples, which enables retail partners to feature these consumer favorites in promotional calendars that extend beyond the fall season.

Pink Lady
Pink Lady continues to be a growth leader in mainline varietals both in sales revenue and volume per year.  There has been a 40-plus percent lift in sales dollars and 30-plus percent increase in year-over-year results for this popular variety.

United reviews varietal performance each year and watches emerging consumer trends as it plans for future plantings and maximization of its acreage. Baker indicated that significant acres of Pink Lady are being added to the plan, with new orchards scheduled for planting in the spring of 2023 and each following year.

“Pinks have historically been a Washington and imported variety. We have shown that our eastern region-grown Pinks offer exceptional flavor, great color and increasing volume to support our retail partners with sustainable year-round volume.  When you factor in the advantages of locally grown eastern region fruit, and a significant cost savings on transportation, our Pink program offers a very strong market advantage for our retail partners domestically and internationally,”  Baker said.