This year promises to continue a trend that has kept shelves well-stocked. Maybe too well stocked. In 2023, the U.S. Apple industry experienced a larger-than-average crop, with 250 million bushels in total at the end of the season. This number increased by 10% in 2024 to a whopping 260 million bushels. Unfortunately, this is not good news for growers.
“My understanding is that they’re expecting perhaps another four million boxes on top of what they had last year, which is probably a little too much for the industry to handle,” says Kevin Brandt, Vice President and COO at Property Variety Management, the company representing brands like Pink Lady and Cosmic Crisp in the U.S.
Good apple growing weather has helped increase volume, but Brandt says the incursion of new actors in the industry has also resulted in more apples hitting the market as the temperature drops. An investment influx led by big players, such as the Canadian Teachers Pension Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Hancock, has purchased several vertically integrated companies that are now growing a number of products—apples, chief among them.
“All of those plantings are now coming into production,” Brandt says. “And those plants are high density and buy access, so that’s gonna cause quite an increase in what we’re seeing.”