"The supply right now of Gala and Macintosh apples is excellent,” says Scott Swindeman of Deerfield, Mi.-based Applewood Orchards Inc. “We are also starting to pack Honeycrisp today and we started SweeTango apples 10 days ago.” Swindeman adds that the timing of this year’s fall crop is slightly ahead of normal timing in years past however he anticipates the crop to carry right through to May of 2018.
Applewood's SweeTango apples
As far as competition for apples, Swindeman says most of that is coming in from Washington, New York and the state of Pennsylvania. “But we expect demand to be excellent,” he says. That could be why pricing is currently up slightly over last year—Swindeman estimates them to be approximately 10 per cent higher.
New varieties for consumers
Like many domestic apple growers in the U.S. and Canada, Applewood, which has more than 600 acres of apples, is welcoming some new varieties into the market in order to appeal to consumers’ tastes.
“Our production of the managed varieties Kiku and Kanzi continue to increase and we will be introducing EverCrisp to several new retailers this season,” says Swindeman. “We’ve had Kiku for four years and with Kanzi, this is our second year. And it’s really our first year with EverCrisp. We’ve had excellent acceptance with Kiku and Kanzi and expect the same with EverCrisp.”
Meanwhile, Swindeman notes, that while growth continues for varieties such as Gala and Fuji, other varieties such as Red Delicious and Golden Delicious continue to drop.
For more information:
Scott Swindeman
Applewood Orchards Inc.
Tel: +1- 517.447.3001
scott@applewoodapples.com
http://www.applewoodapples.com/