Posts Tagged “SweeTango”
by The Washington State Tree Fruit Association
Yakima, WA –The Washington State Tree Fruit Association (WSTFA) released its forecast for the 2018 Washington apple shipments.
The 2018 forecast is for a fresh pack crop of 131 million standard 40-pound boxes of fresh apples. This is down two percent from 2017’s 134 million box crop.
Harvest has started for some early varieties.
Gala is projected to be the most numerous variety in 2018 at 24 percent of production, with Red Delicious at a projected 21.5 percent. These varieties are followed by Fuji at 13.5 percent and Granny Smith at 13 percent of total production. This year Honeycrisp is forecast to come in at 10.8 percent of the total crop and Cripps Pink at 4.5 percent.
Organic apple production continues to increase, and is forecast to be 14 percent of the total, or 18.9 million boxes.
This forecast is based on a survey of WSTFA members, and represents a best estimate of the total volume of apples that will be eventually shipped for the fresh market (excluding product sent to processor). Apple harvest typically begins in August and continues into November, and as a result this forecast is still subject to several months of variable weather which can affect the final harvest total.
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SweeTango Apple Shipments
SweeTango growers and marketing desks anticipate an abundant crop of SweeTango apples this season.
Fowler Farms of Wolcott, NY is expecting good yields for the North American crop with excellent quality, good color, and smooth finish. The company notes that organic SweeTango from Washington state is projected to reach significant volumes for the first time.
Stemilt Growers LLC of Wenatchee, WA just recently started harvest and the Midwest and East regions will start shipping in time for Labor Day arrivals.
Nielsen retail scan data indicates that SweeTango shines in the early season, as it is one of the first premium varieties to become available in the fall. During its peak season from September to November 2017, SweeTango was the best-selling club variety while also ranking among the top 10 category-wide.
SweeTango weekly apple sales increased 43.6 percent in the U.S. between August 7th and October 29th. This was and average of 54 pounds per store over the same time frame in 2015, according to apple grower cooperative Next Big Thing.
The co-op, which includes 47 growers from Washington to Nova Scotia, cited Nielsen Co. data in a news release, saying SweeTango was the 10th-best-selling apple overall — falling just behind Pink Lady and Jazz — and the second-best-selling apple when compared only to club varieties, according to the data.
Pricing for SweeTango averaged $2.33 per pound and $233 a week per store in sales.
A marketing program by Next Big Thing was rolled out across the U.S. and Canada in 2016 that included “refreshed packaging designs” and joint efforts with retailers to invest in digital coupons and in-store demos.
The campaign included a new tagline, “Free the Crunch,” along with a social media contest that generated 1,400 entries on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as a 42 percent increase in traffic to SweeTango.com, over a 47-day period.
The initiative also had a series of short-form animated videos promoting the apple variety’s crunch and flavor, which drew 42,000 views on YouTube and Facebook over a 90-day period.
The effort also included a SweeTango Society blogger outreach program, with 12 bloggers in the U.S. and Canada featuring unique SweeTango recipes on their blogs from September through November.
“Consumer awareness and trial for the brand continues to receive favorable responses at shows as well as with in-store sampling and local marketing events,” said David Williams, vice president of sales and marketing with Wolcott, N.Y.-based Fowler Bros. Inc..
A highlight of the season was partnering with the Syracuse Crunch AHL hockey team to promote the uber-crunchy SweeTango with sampling, in-game fan activities like apple dunking on the ice, and more.
The overall 2016 crop was slightly larger than 2015 but marginally smaller than projected due to Midwest hail in the early growing season and harvest-time cracking in New York, the co-op reported.
by Stemilt Growers
WENATCHEE, Wash. – The University of Minnesota has chosen Rave™ as the brand name for fruit sold from the University’s newest apple variety, MN55, which Stemilt Growers holds the license to grow, pack, and market in North America. Rave™ was selected as the brand name for this apple to play off of the apple’s many exciting attributes, including its incredible crunch and juicy flavor, as well as its unique position as the first apple to ripen in Washington State, coming off the tree in late July.
“We are beyond excited about the chosen brand name of our newest star apple. The Rave™ apple has explosive flavor and with its early harvest timing and dessert qualities, it will reinvent the month of August for the apple category. We look forward to bringing small volumes of Rave™ apples to market in 2017,” said Stemilt marketing director Roger Pepperl.
The highest quality fruit from MN55 trees will go to market from Stemilt growers as Rave™ apples beginning in summer 2017. MN55 is a variety that was born back in 1997 at the University of Minnesota’s exceptional apple breeding program, the same place that the now national phenomenon Honeycrisp heralds from. It’s a cross between Honeycrisp and an unreleased variety called MonArk. With similar, yet more defined, flavor and quality attributes as Honeycrisp combined with MonArk’s ability to ripen early yet color well and maintain a crisp, juicy texture through the summer heat, Stemilt believes Rave™ apples will be the next standout in the produce department.
The journey to develop a new apple cultivar is not a quick process and requires great efforts. During the 17 years from original breeding to the final release and licensing of MN55 to Stemilt, the University of Minnesota conducted rigorous testing to ensure that the variety was of high enough quality to be commercially released. This process included 5-6 years of testing at multiple locations across the U.S. Together with Stemilt, the University of Minnesota landed on Rave™ as the brand name for the apple earlier this summer.
“Rave™ is a powerful brand name for apples, and one that we know will leave a lasting impression on consumers, especially after they bite into one. Rave™ joins our breeding program’s other success stories, Honeycrisp and SweeTango®, and helps us meet our goal of bringing excitement to consumers as they shop for apples,” said David Bedford, research scientist for the University of Minnesota apple breeding program.
Rave™ is also another chapter in Stemilt’s story of bringing innovative products to market. The company successfully introduced its signature apple Piñata!® to the marketplace back in 2009, and also supplies the West Coast with the University’s popular SweeTango® apple.
“We are constantly seeking new apple varieties with flavors and qualities that will wow the consumer. It’s all about building fruit fans of tomorrow, and Rave™ certainly has the ‘wow factor’ to do just that. We can’t wait to bring this phenomenal apple into stores next August,” said Pepperl.
Stemilt is now in the process of developing a logo and packaging for Rave™ apples, and expects to unveil a look later this year.
Lake City, Minn. – Members of the Next Big Thing Growers’ Cooperative recently released their estimates for the 2016 crop of SweeTango, the sweet, tangy, and remarkably crunchy apple that was developed by the University of Minnesota to feature the best characteristics of the Honeycrisp and Zestar! apple varieties.
The projected crop yield is 450,000 standard 40-lb boxes, which is an 18% increase over last year’s crop of 380,000, and 9% larger than the 2014 harvest of 413,000 boxes.
Preliminary projections estimated a yield of 465,000 boxes for 2016, however severe storms on July 8 in Suttons Bay in northern Michigan produced hail up to 2” in diameter that caused extensive damage to the crop in that region, thereby reducing the overall estimate. Other growing regions across the U.S. and Canada have not been adversely affected by weather to date.
The timing of the harvest varies by growing region, as orchards are spread across differing climates in locations like Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Nova Scotia, Canada. Washington will begin harvest first in early August, which means SweeTango will start appearing in the market around Labor Day.
As the SweeTango apple crop has continued to grow over the past decade, so does the length of the season. Once a hyper-seasonal fruit due to limited yields from a relatively small number of young orchards, SweeTango’s season is now expected to extend from early September to late December. This is great news for SweeTango’s enthusiastic and loyal consumer following.
Theron Kibbe, executive director of Next Big Thing Growers’ Cooperative noted, “We are looking forward to a good size SweeTango crop of excellent quality, with sizes that retailers are successful with. We have a robust marketing program in place that will drive shoppers to stores with SweeTango apples on their lists. We also will be partnering with retailers with in-store activities designed to increase trial and introduce new shoppers to SweeTango’s tangy-sweet flavor and exceptional crunch.”
NEXT BIG THING
Headquartered in Lake City, Minn., Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative is a 45-member cooperative of family growers, spread over five time zones from Nova Scotia to Washington State, that grows and markets managed varieties of apples, beginning with SweeTango. You can find more information on SweeTango at http://www.sweetango.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sweetango.