US: Westcott imports Chilean Honeycrsip again

Wescott Agri Product’s Honeybear Brands division is again bringing in its Chilean Honeycrisp to select US markets. With Honeybear’s exclusive production and marketing rights to Honeycrisp from Chile and Argentina, this is only the second year of commercial production on the import Honeycrisp. Honeybear will have Honeycrisp available in mid to late April, which is part of its strategy of providing the industry’s first year round supply of "fresh crop" Honeycrisp.

After obtaining the commercial rights for growing Honeycrisp in Chile and Argentina in 1990, Honeybear spent a decade developing the South American orchards with its Chilean growing partner, Frusan. A challenging variety to grow, Honeycrisp requires the right micro-climate to maximize production yield, quality and flavor. Wescott evaluated and piloted multiple growing regions for the South American variety before selecting the peak apple region in Chile. The result is a Honeycrisp varietal grown, packed and marketed under Wescott’s strict quality standards, ensuring consumers enjoy the best aspects of this popular apple.

Last year, the Chilean Honeycrisp was brought to the US for the first time. As expected, the first year’s commercial production volume in 2011 was limited. "We’ve worked very diligently over the last 10 years to identify the best growing regions in the Southern Hemisphere. Our hard work has paid off as the Chilean orchards are maturing and significantly increasing production of fruit. And equally important, the quality of fruit and eating experience is second to none" said Fred Wescott, President of Wescott Agri Products.

Consumer response to last year’s introduction of Chilean Honeycrisp was very strong. "Our retail partners have been waiting patiently for the development of our Chilean Honeycrisp. Consumers were both surprised in finding a new crop of Honeycrisp in early Spring, and delighted that its flavor was as strong as they experience in the Fall with domestic Honeycrisp apples," said Don Roper, Honeybear Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "We now have consumers asking about import Honeycrisp as they visit their retail grocery stores in April," concluded Roper.

The development of the Chilean Honeycrisp is part of Wescott’s goal of growing, packaging and marketing world-class varieties from the finest agricultural regions across the globe, enabling Wescott to offer its retail partners a year-round, differentiated apple advantage in their marketplace.

"With a multi-year development time frame for each new variety, we work with our retail partners’ market needs and the agriculture aspects of planning for a seven to ten-year investment before these new varieties come into production," said Wescott. "Currently, we have another eight varieties in domestic development. Our experience with the Honeycrisp project and our Chilean growing partner Frusan, has been outstanding. We see new development in both northern and southern hemispheres as a way to give our partners new apple varieties that they can pass on to their customers on a year-round basis."