Jazz Apple Cycling team finishes season on high note
Jazz Apple Cycling team finishes season on high note
The Jazz Apple Cycling team was in perfect tune for a podium finish at the Tour de Delta, the final stop on its 2006 North American race campaign.
Michelle Hyland, representing Enza Jazz apples, earned a very close second place in the unique event, where competitors were scored on their combined times in the hill climb (a 700-meter, 9 percent grade time trial), 36-kilometer criterium and 88-kilometer road race. Local favorite Marni Hambledon tallied a mere three points over Ms. Hyland, with less than two seconds separating the cyclists across the three disciplines.
The Tour de Delta was the final North American challenge for the Jazz Apple Cycling Team, a squad of seven of New Zealand's top women riders. Clad in brightly branded Jazz apple uniforms, the team created exposure for the New Zealand-bred fruit while racing and training in the United States and Canada since May. The team's achievements included podium finishes in several races, as well as a stage win and Queen of the Mountains jersey at Minneapolis' prestigious Nature Valley Grand Prix in June.
Between events, team members made celebrity appearances at select supermarkets, endorsing the Jazz apple while shoppers tasted the fruit.
"These amazing young athletes did a phenomenal job raising awareness of Jazz apples in a market ripe for fresh, intensely flavored fruit," David Nelley, pipfruit category director for The Oppenheimer Group in Vancouver, BC, said in a press release. "Their winning spirit captured the hearts and imaginations of our retail customers, apple lovers and cycling fans everywhere. We could not have asked for better ambassadors."
Oppenheimer is the exclusive marketer of Jazz apples in North America. Mr. Nelley said that response to the Royal Gala-Braeburn cross has exceeded expectations again this year.
"As awareness of Jazz grows, so does the demand for it at retail," he said. "People everywhere are discovering Jazz and calling it their new favorite apple. We sampled it to spectators recently at the Tour de Gastown and were overwhelmed by the positive response from people who tried it."
While the New Zealand Jazz apple season wraps up in a few weeks, Mr. Nelley is looking ahead to an excellent crop of Washington-grown Jazz, which will be harvested in late October.
Michelle Hyland, representing Enza Jazz apples, earned a very close second place in the unique event, where competitors were scored on their combined times in the hill climb (a 700-meter, 9 percent grade time trial), 36-kilometer criterium and 88-kilometer road race. Local favorite Marni Hambledon tallied a mere three points over Ms. Hyland, with less than two seconds separating the cyclists across the three disciplines.
The Tour de Delta was the final North American challenge for the Jazz Apple Cycling Team, a squad of seven of New Zealand's top women riders. Clad in brightly branded Jazz apple uniforms, the team created exposure for the New Zealand-bred fruit while racing and training in the United States and Canada since May. The team's achievements included podium finishes in several races, as well as a stage win and Queen of the Mountains jersey at Minneapolis' prestigious Nature Valley Grand Prix in June.
Between events, team members made celebrity appearances at select supermarkets, endorsing the Jazz apple while shoppers tasted the fruit.
"These amazing young athletes did a phenomenal job raising awareness of Jazz apples in a market ripe for fresh, intensely flavored fruit," David Nelley, pipfruit category director for The Oppenheimer Group in Vancouver, BC, said in a press release. "Their winning spirit captured the hearts and imaginations of our retail customers, apple lovers and cycling fans everywhere. We could not have asked for better ambassadors."
Oppenheimer is the exclusive marketer of Jazz apples in North America. Mr. Nelley said that response to the Royal Gala-Braeburn cross has exceeded expectations again this year.
"As awareness of Jazz grows, so does the demand for it at retail," he said. "People everywhere are discovering Jazz and calling it their new favorite apple. We sampled it to spectators recently at the Tour de Gastown and were overwhelmed by the positive response from people who tried it."
While the New Zealand Jazz apple season wraps up in a few weeks, Mr. Nelley is looking ahead to an excellent crop of Washington-grown Jazz, which will be harvested in late October.
