Sassy is cementing its status as an early-harvest variety, Taylor Corp in the Hawke’s Bay began picking on February 8th, in time for one of the first shipments of new-season apples out of the Hawke’s Bay. Nelson quickly followed suit with Golden Bay Fruit picking their first round of Sassy this morning (Friday Feb 10th).
“We’ve been really happy with the colour development in the last two weeks leading up to harvest” says Evan Heywood, CEO of Next Generation Apples who manage the global licensing rights for Sassy, “a couple of cooler nights just before harvest really made the colour pop.” The trees are three to four years old now and showing a consistent crop load this season. Golden Bay Fruit’s Vietnam Market Manager Diep Tran says her customers love the Sassy colour with its full block red.
Sassy apples have a hard crunch and a balanced sweet taste that has garnered wide appeal during market research and in-market tastings last season. “It’s the firmest early variety”, explains Hawke’s Bay grower Cameron Taylor, “that’s why we decided to plant Sassy over other varieties.” The Brix are between 12 and 13.5 this week and according to Taylor “the flavour is significantly better than Ju Gala.”
Next Generation Apples has a vision to build Sassy as a consumer centric apple brand, grown in the best orchards around the world and marketed on a 12-month basis. A key strength of this early season apple is that it has excellent storage potential, explains Heywood, “New Zealand Sassy that was harvested in early February last year was still eating well at Asia Fruit Logistica in November, nine months after harvest.”
Consumers also love and relate to the name and branding – “our Sassy caps have been almost as popular as the apple itself! We’re excited to bring this Sassy personality to life as our volumes increase” said Eleni, Head of Marketing at Next Generation Apples.
“Sassy is really ramping up this year” says Heywood. Volumes are up from two containers out of New Zealand in 2022 to twenty this season between exporters Golden Bay Fruit and Taylor Corp, in addition to the first semi-commercial tree plantings from Top Fruit in South Africa. As well as exporting Sassy to our key customers across Greater China, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, we will also be sharing the Sassy craze with several retailers in New Zealand in partnership with Market Gardeners (MGs).
For more information:
Eleni Hogg
Golden Bay Fruit
eleni@goldenbayfruit.com
Tel: +64 27 4680408
www.sassyapples.co.nz