Cosmic Crisp Quality Standards Still Being Written

As growers of the cosmic crisp apple prepare to plant next season and beyond, the standards for color and grade are still being finalized.

Lynnell Brandt with Proprietary Variety Management who will help market the apple said, it’s critical to get these standards right.

“The two objectives that we have are to create the best brand possible for consumer recognition and consumer value. The second thing is to make sure that we have enough of a packout to make it economically feasible for everybody.”

There is also the hope that if the standards are set by the industry, they can manage them proactively and not have to go through the State Department of Agriculture or State Legislature.

Dave Allan from Allan Brothers is part of the committee that will be writing the standards, and he said they’re off to a slow start, but that could be a benefit.

“We don’t have anything written on the page yet. We get to change it and we get to be creative in how we do this. And we definitely have to have some type of system.”

Allan said he would love to hear from anyone who has ideas on how to craft their standards.

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