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RAVE. is University of Minnesota-bred cross between a Honeycrisp and MonArk, a variety from Arkansas, started its third year of commercial harvest in July or three weeks before Honeycrisp comes to market. In 2018, volumes were approximately 60,000 40-pound cartons, according to Roger Pepperl, marketing director for Stemilt Growers, the exclusive North American grower and marketer of this variety. Rave is part of Stemilt’s Inspiration Orchard portfolio, which also include SweeTango and Piñata. “It has a Honeycrisp’s fracture, it’s intensely colored, is really juicy, and the tree produces a bell-shaped curve of sizes peaking on 80s,” says Pepperl. e company promoted the apple via its month-long Rave Apple Road Trip Celebra- tion, which featured a food truck journey from Minnesota to some of the U.S.’s largest East Coast cities and its retailers.
SMITTEN. Four parental varieties – Fiesta, Gala, Braeburn and Falsta — create this striped apple, known for its bright pink/red over a yellow background, with a sweet mildly tart taste. Both conventional and organically grown fruit are available, as are point-of-pur- chase bins for each. “Last season, we ran a social media sweepstakes through our website. e winner was awarded a gift card and a sample case of Smitten. e goal was to bring aware- ness about the variety and get it into the hands of consumers,” says Sage Fruit’s Sinks.
promote the variety, we do grower tours, demos, and have a Sugarbee mascot available for store openings and other retail events.”
A PROPER INTRODUCTION IS KEY
It is critical to introduce and educate customers about new varieties.
“You simply can’t beat the exposure o ered by stand-alone in-store displays,” says Rochelle Bohm, brand manager for CMI Orchards, in Wenatchee, WA. “We have many options for promoting fruit in creative ways, including displays that ship with fruit and
require minimal execution by produce sta . If retailers can’t carry displays, the next best thing is signage and avor information.”
Recipe and usage recommendations, activities such as store contests and robust social media/digital marketing are other bene- cial marketing methods, say growers.
Sample the new variety, suggests Chelan Fresh’s Riggan. “Cut fruit that may have a small blemish or bruise and engage customers at the same time. We call this demoing your shrink. Marketing makes the rst sale, it’s up to the apple itself to make the second.” pb
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAGE FRUIT COMPANY
SUGARBEE. Chelan Fresh rst intro- duced this bi-color open cross between a Honeycrisp and unknown parent in 2016. is season, the company expects to have 165,000 bushels of this proprietary variety between late October through mid-January, says Mac Riggan, director of marketing. “To
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