Tracking closely with Washington state’s overall apple numbers, Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers of Wenatchee, WA, is seeing excellent volume despite hail and other weather issues earlier in the season.

In late August, Marketing Director Scott Marboe told The Produce News, “The state is still expecting the second largest crop in history. Washington did have a number of weather-related issues in June and early July, but that damage has cleaned itself out and helped us get numbers more accurate. We as a company still expect to be a little over 10 million cartons this coming season.”

At that time, OSRG crews were picking Gala, Gingergold and organic Gala, Mr. Marboe said.

“We started on Aug. 15 with the Gingergolds and the next day with the Gala,” he said.

He noted that the field staff “did an excellent job with their estimates, especially with the efforts they were going through with late season cherries.”

Fruit sizes are ideal, Mr. Marboe added.

“The size profile so far looks perfect. We’re seeing a good mix of 100-72 and just enough smaller and larger to keep a well-balanced manifest available for all our customers and markets worldwide,” he said.

The popular “SnaQ” program and its back-to-school kits are in stores now, and Mr. Marboe said the kid-friendly campaign has again generated good interest in point-of-sales material at retail.

“It is a good program for kids to be active and eat healthy,” he said.

New in packaging is the “Columbia Valley” organic label that was introduced earlier in 2012, and Mr. Marboe said more emphasis is also being placed on Oneonta organics.

The category is showing good promise, and Mr. Marboe said, “Our addition of Columbia Valley has been received better than we expected from the trade, and it is exciting for us all.”

On the packing side of the equation, robotics have been installed at the Quincy, WA, facility, and Mr. Marboe said additional packing machinery and more controlled atmosphere facilities have been built.

“We are looking forward to the start of Columbia Reach and their new facility this winter as well,” he said. “It will be ready to go in the fall of 2013 and will be state-of-the-art.”

Columbia Reach in Yakima has the largest planting of Honeycrisp in Washington state and packs more than 2 million cartons of apples annually.