Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers' popular "applesnaQ" campaign is seeing good reception at retail and is part of the overall strong movement of apples from the Wenatchee, WA-based operation.

Congdon Orchards Inc. is the latest Washington producer of apples, pears and cherries to join forces with grower cooperative FirstFruits of Washington, headquartered in Yakima, WA. FirstFruits Chief Executive Officer Keith Mathews said that the company is a welcome addition. "They really help round us out," he told The Produce News in mid-December. In all, Congdon will bring a half-million packages each for apples, pears and cherries to the table.

Roger Pepperl, director of marketing for Stemilt Growers Inc. in Wenatchee, WA, said that the 2010-11 apple season has been remarkable. "We have had fantastic movement," he told The Produce News Dec. 14. “There is record movement as a company and as an industry.”

The company is marketing a full manifest of conventional and organic apples. “We're moving a ton of Fujis,” he said. “Reds, Goldens, Grannies and Galas [sold] well for the holidays. We have a lot of beautiful Braeburns. Apples are looking good. Sales are fantastic.”

Generally, the demand for Michigan apples has been strong this year and prices have been good. But a volume amounting to half that of the 2009 crop has been insufficient for the industry, according to Tom Pletcher, vice president sales and marketing for BelleHarvest Sales Inc.

Chris Falk, vice president of sales for Washington Fruit & Produce Co. in Yakima, WA, said that apple volume will be down slightly for the 2010-11 season. "We are down about 5 percent from last season due to miscellaneous weather issues during and after bloom," he told The Produce News. “We experienced some pockets of hail and frost damage, and we also took out some old acreage that was not performing.”

Noting a slow start to the 2010-11 apple shipping season, Rainier Fruit Marketing Director Suzanne Wolter said that the Selah, WA-based grower- shipper has hit stride and expects momentum to remain strong through spring.

Ms. Wolter said in late December that imported fruit was the key factor for the slowdown. "We had slower-than-usual start to the season in September and October. We attribute this in part due to the tremendous influx of fruit from Chile."