by Columbia Marketing International (CMI)
Wenatchee, WA – Despite some of the earliest shipments on record, a smaller Washington apple harvest is driving tighter supplies and higher prices—particularly on larger-sized fruit and managed varieties. The result has been slower sales on many traditional varieties as supermarkets look to fill shelves with high demand new crop apples like Honeycrisp and Ambrosia.
Washington State apple shipments through November 2nd are 19.3% below the same period in 2014, but nearly 9% higher than two years ago. Early season predictions of smaller-sized fruit and supply reductions, particularly in Gala, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious are proving to be accurate.
Apple category growth continues to be propelled by the newer managed varieties and brands. The overall decline in apple category performance was offset by double digit sales increases among many emerging varieties. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Ambrosia™ Sweetango and KIKU® brand apples all posted strong sales increases over last year for the four-week September start-up period.
Some traditional popular apples showed significant sales declines. Gala (-8.0%), Red Delicious (-16.9%), Golden Delicious (-12.1%) and McIntosh (-9.9) all lost sales dollars in September compared to the same period last year.
Don Patella, Regional Marketing Director for CMI, noted that McIntosh sales dropped by nearly 10% year over year despite having one of the lower retail price points in the category. Conversely, Ambrosia had the largest sales increase in the category while selling at roughly $2.40 per pound, one of the higher retail prices of any apple in the month of September.