“We have a new packingline and bagging line in place and ready for the coming season,” said Kaari Stannard, president of New York Apple Sales in Castleton, NY.

New York Apple Sales continues to handle the two new New York apple varieties; SnapDragon and RubyFrost, which are managed apples and New York Apple Grower varieties.

According to the online CornellChronicle, the two varieties have been a decade in the making, and how they’ve gone to market is a first for the Cornell University apple-breeding program and the New York apple industry.

Historically, public universities developed new apple breeds and released them to the industry freely. But in 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act gave universities the right to retain the intellectual property rights for their research, with limited plant-based royalties.

In May 2010, Cornell forged a partnership for a “managed release” with NYAG, then a new industry group, to establish an exclusive licensing agreement in North America for the two apple varieties.

New York Apple Sales is now in its third season importing the new Koru plumac apple variety from New Zealand, which starts in late April. The apple is also a controlled production variety and is exclusively available from McGrath Nurseries Ltd., whichholds the world rights to production and marketing.

The apple variety is managed for Geoff and Marilyn Plunkett who discovered the variety as a chance seedling in their garden on the South Island of New Zealand.

“The Koru plumac is doing very well,” said Stannard. “We are now budding trees for planting in New York in 2016, and we anticipate our first commercial harvest by about 2020.”

The apple was developed and produced in New Zealand. It is touted as a very exciting new grower-friendly apple that combines high productivity, large fruit size, high pack-out and excellent storage abilities with no storage disorders. It delivers a crisp, aromatic, honey-like flavor and offers excellent consumer quality.

“We have also increased our volumes of Honeycrisp, Gala, Pink Lady, also a managed variety, and of course the two new New York varieties,” Stannard added.

“Our distribution range remains about the same — primarily east of the Mississippi up and down the East Coast,” she continued. “We also export to Israel, Singapore, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, India and Dubai.”

New York Apple Sales recently launched a new website, and new logo and it introduced a new pouch package with a handle and zip lock closure. The bag stands upright.

Stannard said the company’s Ginger Gold harvest started the second week of August.

“We’ve had adequate rainfall and an overall good growing season,” she said. “We’re coming to market with a lovely crop that is probably similar in volume to last year. We’ll be harvesting through early November.”