Page 48 - January_2019

percent plus of all our fruit is placed in some form of this storage. is may be either short term for a few weeks or long term for months. e purpose is to preserve the integrity of the apple by using every available tool, such as CA and SmartFresh, along with the best horticul- tural practices and timely harvest.”
Beyond eating quality, availability is a big plus of CA storage.
“CA storage enables us to ship apples year-round,” says Chuck Sinks, president of sales and marketing for the Yakima, WA-based Sage Fruit Company. “We have seen a decreased need to import apples due to the increased volume in which we are now producing and the bene ts of CA storage.”
By January, most if not all apples on U.S. retail shelves are domestically grown fruit that is coming out of storage.
“ e top-seven selling apples between January and March in the United States are Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Pink Lady and Golden Delicious,” says Mike Preacher, director of marketing and customer relations for Domex Superfresh Growers, in Yakima, WA.
Although all varieties can be put into CA, some apples are naturally a better t for a CA program than others, including almost all of those listed above, says Don Roper, vice pres- ident of sales and marketing for Honeybear Marketing, in Elgin, MN. “Other varieties have a shorter window in CA. Honeycrisp is a prime example. We can put it in CA and get it to store well, but by the time we start pulling Honeycrisp out of CA rooms in January, the avor is at and waning. We were still able to protect that signature crunch experience, but the avor has waned considerably.”
2. WELCOME WHAT’S NEW
Apple varieties available during the winter are a mix of ‘mainline’ varieties, such as the seven named above, complemented by the many new up-and-coming varieties, says Honeybear Marketing’s Roper. e latter includes “Pazazz, Ambrosia, Jazz, Envy, Juici, Paci c Rose, EverCrisp and many more.”
A key point, says Andy Tudor, vice presi- dent of business development for the Rainier Fruit Company in Selah, WA, is that “some varieties are well-served to be in cold storage for a few months for their avors to mature.” More speci cally, the high starch content of some apples will convert to sugars during storage, thus creating a fantastic eating expe- rience.
One example is the Cornell University-af- liated New York State Agricultural Experi-
48 / JANUARY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF STEMILT GROWERS; MIDDLE AND BOTTOM PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAGE FRUIT