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NEW YORK APPLE REPORT
PHOTO ON LEFT COURTESY OF HUDSON RIVER DISTRIBUTORS; CENTER PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITED APPLES SALES
‘LOCAL’ APPEAL OF APPLES
New varieties and solid mainstream offerings of Empire State’s top crop bring diversity to retail market.
The Big Apple nickname for New York City might as well apply to the entire state. New York ranks second or third in the nation in apple production, sometimes
swapping spots with Michigan based on the annual crop, and second only to Washington in apple production. New York grows more apple varieties than any other state, according to the New York Apple Association, head- quartered in Fishers, NY. ese apples are harvested from more than 10 million trees on 700-plus farms, many of which are family owned and multigenerational.
“What makes New York apples special is that they’re local,” says Je Cady, director of produce and oral for Tops Friendly Markets, a 159-store chain headquartered in Williamsville, NY. “You can’t drive around without seeing orchards and ‘U-pick’ operations. You know you’re in apple country when you’re in New York, and that’s what customers want: local New York-grown apples.”
Six major production areas located throughout the state, ranging from the Niagara Frontier to the Eastern Hudson Valley, possess microclimates perfect for growing apples.
“New York is remarkably diverse in its growing regions,” says Susan Brown, professor of horticulture at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who most
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BY CAROL BAREUTHER
recently bred the SnapDragon (Honeycrisp o spring) and RubyFrost (Braeburn and Autumn Crisp cross) varieties at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY. For example, “Our Champlain region has a shorter season and more challenges with cold temperatures, while Long Island has a long season and can mature Pink Lady.”
e state’s farmers are expecting a bountiful crop of apples this year. Speci cally, the New York crop was estimated at 31 million bushels at the Premier Apple Conference, held in Syra- cuse, NY, in late June. is is down from 33.2 million bushels in 2018 and is a half million bushels below the state’s ve-year average.
Good rain will translate into larger sizing.
“Historically, Western New York peaks on 113s. is year, we’ll see more 100s and 88s,” says Brett Baker, executive vice president and sales manager for Lyndonville, NY-based United Apple Sales, located 46 miles from Niagara Falls.
Similarly, apples grown at Stanley Orchards Sales, LLC, in Modena, NY, a little more than 70 miles north of New York City, will peak on 100s and 88s with some 72s too, according to sales manager Tony Maresca.
WHAT’S IN, WHAT’S OUT, WHAT’S NEW
McIntosh, Empire and Cortland are among the best-selling New York apple vari-
eties at Tops Friendly Market, says Cady. “In general, our older shoppers are looking for these mainstay apples. e younger generation is moving to sweeter varieties like Gala, Fuji and Honeycrisp. We carry them all and more.”
Cady adds that except for late July and early August, when most of New York’s apple growers have sold out; varieties such as Granny Smith (that require Western U.S. conditions to color) and organics (which are a challenge to grow in the humid East Coast climate), New York supplies a large portion of the chain’s apples.
“ ere’s no doubt that McIntosh and Empire as well as varieties like Red Deli- cious, are being cannibalized by some of the new varieties, but they both still have a strong following by those in the Mid-Atlantic and New England,” says Austin Fowler, co-owner of Fowler Farms, Wolcott, NY. “McIntosh customers will even look for this variety if they move out of the area. at’s why I’m trying to convince retailers in the South to carry them.”
Indeed, “we did get asked for McIntosh apples a year or two ago,” says Terry Esteve, produce director at Robért Fresh Market, a six-store chain based in New Orleans.
Empire apples appeal is more fresh-cut than fresh-market, according to Stanley Orchards’ Maresca. “ ese are good, hard, apples excel-