Washington apple harvest started a few weeks ago and usually wraps up in the first half of November. “Across the board, we are seeing bigger and better sizing this year,” says George Harter with CMI Orchards. “We are looking to rebound from last year when the fruit size was smaller, causing a deflation in retail sales.” If a customer is used to buying five apples, those five apples didn’t weigh as much last year due to their smaller size. The industry responded to the smaller sizes by putting a larger number of apples into pouch bags, however, the deflation of sales in the apple category remained a challenge, with sales dollars down as much as 10 percent,” shared Harter.
CMI’s apple harvest started with the Gala variety a couple of weeks ago. Other varieties in the company’s lineup include Ambrosia, Kiku®, Kanzi®, Jazz™, Envy™, Pacific Rose™, Smitten™, and a high-color Honeycrisp. The latter is a unique variety due to its high color. “It has been on the market for some time now and continues to be a customer’s favorite that grows in popularity.”
CMI's generic organic bin on the left.
Organic volume up
“Our volume of organic branded apples like Ambrosia, Kiku® and Kanzi®, Envy™, Smitten™ and Rosalynn™ has increased in response to a predictable and steady increase of organic apple consumption,” Harter said. “We’ve been actively growing our organic volume to stay ahead of the curve." Organic production at CMI Orchards will be in another growth year with volumes projected to increase +67 percent over last year with plans to expand distribution during the 2018 season. “For the third year in a row, Daisy Girl™ is the #1 selling branded organic apple in the U.S.,” said Harter. “It really shows how much consumers trust and are loyal to the Daisy Girl™ brand.”
To drive sales of organic apples, CMI offers a Ship & Shop bin display for its organic brand Daisy Girl. In addition, the company has also introduced a more generic CMI Orchards organic bin that can carry any organic apple variety. “This bin is more versatile and appeals to more retailers.”
For more information:
George Harter
CMI Orchards
Tel: (+1) 509-888-3415