Large Sizes Hurting Apple Sales Abroad

Growing conditions last year were perfect for apple growing, and in fact they were so perfect that in some cases the apples grew too large.

Todd Fryhover with the Washington Apple Commission said that these large fruit do have an impact.

“When we have those large sizes, it creates limited export opportunity particularly for red delicious which remains 50 percent of all of our export.”

A normal year of apples might see 30-32 million boxes of red delicious, but the fruit was so big the count was closer to 39 million boxes.

And while the export market could present challenges for red delicious growers, Fryhover said most producers don’t limit themselves to growing only red delicious.

“Most growers are very ambitious and aggressive and have multiple varieties planted in different locations in a lot of cases and red delicious pricing alone on larger sizes is not an indicator of the health of the overall industry.”

Fryhover said there is nothing that can be done about Mother Nature and the growth of the apples, but there are some options for growers in the processed market.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail krounce@cherrycreekradio.com.