Envy™ apples reach volume milestone
Trial volumes of Envy apples from New Zealand were introduced in North America by The Oppenheimer Group in 2009, but it wasn’t until 2012 that Enza harvested the first small commercial volumes in Washington state. Grown for this market in New Zealand, Chile and Washington, consumers will soon have access to bright red, sweet, crisp Envy year-round. Meanwhile, Enza and Oppy are preparing for the anticipated 2 million cartons that will be harvested in Washington by 2020 by laying some important groundwork now.
Indicators thus far are promising. “Faithful following and meaningful conversations over social media have been part of Envy’s character since the beginning. Even while distribution has been limited by our modest volumes, people constantly comment on the intense flavour of the apple and want to know where they can find it,” said David Nelley, apple and pear category director for The Oppenheimer Group. “If an apple is your go-to snack of the day, you want to make it really tasty. What is really telling, however, is that Envy is the favourite apple of several retail buyers.”
He noted that pricing is several dollars per box ahead of last year despite the uptick in volume, and the apple is performing beautifully in a range of channels, from club, to large-format national retail, to gourmet niche. Envy is also in high demand for exports to Asia. “Envy was bred specifically with the attributes of sweetness, intense flavour and crispness. As luck has it, it wants to grow large, red and is very slow to brown when sliced. This variety has a lot of good things going for it,” Nelley said.
Another export sweetheart for Enza and Oppy during the Washington season is Pacific Rose™. The large, pink, crisp-sweet apple is currently shipping overseas at high rates to meet Chinese New Year orders. However, in the last few seasons, it has also been successfully re-established with domestic retail, Nelley said. Organic Pacific Rose is already sold out for the season.
Rounding out the Enza threesome from Washington is JAZZ™, which is also enjoying excellent demand, particularly for size 100 and larger fruit, according to Nelley, “The year’s crop is predominantly smaller-sized apples,” he said. “This gave us the opportunity to bring our two-pound ‘pouch’ bags to the forefront of our marketing efforts. It’s a vehicle that worked very well for our cherry program, so we are translating ‘grab and go’ success to apples.”
While continuing to strategically market the domestic program, Oppy, the exclusive marketer of imported JAZZ apples, is actively planning for the New Zealand season, which begins in May.
For more information:
Karin Gardner
Oppy
Tel: +1 206 499 7440
Email: [email protected]
www.oppy.com
