That increased to 5.8 pounds and 7.9 pounds three decades later. In 1989, per capita consumption of strawberries and avocados were about 3.3 pounds and 1.1 pounds, respectively. Meanwhile, over that same period, consumers increased their consumption of other fruits, such as fresh strawberries and avocados. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Three decades later, in 2019, that figure dropped to about 17 pounds, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. In 1989, per capita consumption was more than 21 pounds a year. But such customer satisfaction hasn’t translated into their eating more apples. That survey also said 86% of consumers were satisfied with the apples they buy. The company provides various growing and storage solutions for the produce industry. consumers could only name three varieties – Gala, Red Delicious and Granny Smith – according to a consumer survey from AgroFresh. “This has been happening across all product categories in the grocery store think of the innovation in beer, snacks, teas and even meat.” “The introduction of Honeycrisp apples 15 years ago kicked off a quest for new and exciting apples,” said Catherine Gipe-Stewart of Domex Superfresh Growers, a Yakima-area firm that grows and ships a variety of fruit, including apples. I’m still bullish enough to think it’s going to be eight or something.” Chasing Honeycrisp’s successĬosmic Crisp is just one of many new varieties that growers and others in the apple industry look to replicate the success of Honeycrisp, an apple developed at the University of Minnesota that has seen massive growth in the past decade. “When we made the investment, the hope we would get our money back within five years,” Barrett said. Barrett sells the variety at his stand, Washington Fruit Place, and sends fruit to a warehouse that ships them to retailers nationwide. Like many others, Mark Barrett, owner of Barrett Orchards in Yakima, has invested millions in growing Cosmic Crisp. “ frozen their consumption of traditional fruits like apples, pears and oranges and trying more exciting, new and different tastes.” “There’s an awful lot of competing fruit,” said Des O’Rourke, principal of Belrose Inc., a global fruit marketing analysis firm in Pullman. New varieties also have the task of rekindling excitement in a fruit that, while ubiquitous, has been in the shadow of other produce items. Now the variety is expected to make up just 15% of this year’s crop. Just two decades ago, Red Delicious made up nearly half of the Washington state crop. The pandemic added to the apple industry’s ongoing challenge getting consumers on board with new varieties after decades of dominance by Red Delicious. “It was a real shock going from $50 million of earned media to the media no longer talking about anything but the pandemic, the election and social unrest,” said Kathryn Grandy, chief marketing officer of Proprietary Variety Management, the Yakima firm that marketed Cosmic Crisp and several other new varieties. Meanwhile, the pandemic, racial injustice and the 2020 election dominated the news cycle more than food trends did. All the Cosmic Crisps were gone within months, and the first season wrapped up in February 2020, around the time the pandemic halted in-store food marketing, such as apple tastings.īags of apples became popular as curbside pickup increased and in-store opportunities for exposure to new varieties declined. In the fall of 2019, nearly 14 million Cosmic Crisp apples were available nationwide, a small fraction of the more than 5.3 billion fresh apples harvested in Washington state that fall. Stories highlighted its crisp texture and sweet flavor and its ability to retain taste and texture for many months, making it ideal for stocking grocery stores year-round. Indeed, Cosmic Crisp, which had been under development for some two decades through the Washington State University breeding program, received robust national press prior to its December 2019 commercial launch.
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