An Apple A Day

For Hartmann and Riggan, however, it is not a major issue. Hartmann points out that organics represent a small part of Pacificpro’s lineup, which includes both fruits and vegetables. “Organics constitute about 5 percent of our overall volume.” Riggan, puts it this way: “Organic is expanding, but in my opinion, not at the rates reported.”

FRESH FORUM
Comparing last season to this year, how has the apple industry fared in your region?

Bruce Heeren, All Fresh GPS, LLC
Comstock Park, MI
Last year there was a big Washington crop and a port problem which forced more apples [for sale] domestically; there are no such challenges yet for the 2015 crop.

David Moen, CDS Distributing, Inc.
San Francisco, CA
Every year has its challenges; this year supply is higher, which has put apples at a more reasonable cost, even though most commodities are on a deflationary cycle. To compensate, we’re working hard to get volume up.

Mac Riggan, Chelan Fresh Marketing
Chelan, WA
Last year’s large apple crop and Russia banning imports have the European Union and United States now fighting over some of the same customers. And Mexicans are finding better work in Mexico, making it more difficult for U.S. growers to find farm labor.

Alexander Ott, California Apple Commission
Clovis, CA
We need water to produce our crops, otherwise we cede our food supply to foreign countries. A former Fresno mayor said, ‘If you like foreign oil, you will love foreign food.’

Randy Steensma, Honey Bear Tree Fruit Company, LLC
Wenatchee, WA
A crop 15 to 20 percent over the previous year has been hard to deal with. Plus, nature provided huge apples last year, so we had to create a different a marketing program to move 56s, 64s, and 72s. Lots of apples and lots of large ones—perfect conditions kept them growing and growing.

Diane Smith, Michigan Apple Committee
Lansing, MI
Apple growers are part scientist, part artist, and part gambler. So issues like an increasing U.S. apple crop, the opening of the China market for imports and exports, and weather-related challenges are simply par for the course.

Julia Stewart, New York Apple Association
Fishers, NY
The 2014 apple marketing season demonstrated the pros and cons of being a global industry. When the labor dispute at West Coast ports temporarily brought a halt to Washington State’s apple exports, the U.S. domestic market felt the impact. On the pro side, the Chinese market has opened to all U.S. apples; while we’re probably too far away from China to ship fruit there, anytime Washington can export more fruit, it’s good news for New York and domestic markets.

Roger Pepperl, Stemilt Growers, LLC
Wenatchee, WA
The large national and Washington State apple crop was the biggest challenge for 2013-14. We had a lot of apples to move compared to the year prior, and learned a great deal about which varieties have a future in the marketplace.

Rebecca Lyons, Washington Apple Commission
Wenatchee, WA
The Washington 2014-15 export season was studded with obstacles including a Russian ban on U.S. and European imports, the West Coast port slowdown, and a misreported outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes. However, the Chinese market for U.S. apple exports has finally opened—the industry has high hopes for this market to take substantial volume (4 to 5 million bushel cartons) in the next few years.