California Fall Fruit
The state of Washington is the West’s apple growing monarch, but the region’s No. 1 grower-shipper of organic apples, Cuyama Orchards, is based in California.
“Our volume will be right around 200,000 cartons this season,” said Byron Albano, marketing manager.
The grower-packer-shipper maintains its sales and administrative offices in North Hollywood, but the orchards are in the Cuyama Valley, about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara.
Cuyama Orchards is on the warmer, eastern side of the California coastal range, but because of the valley’s microclimate, the organic apple season starts weeks later than conventional apple crops elsewhere in the state.
“Galas start our program, and harvesting should begin about Aug. 30, “Albano said in early August. “Our second variety is the Honeycrisp, which we’ll start packing in mid-September.”
Another September arrival will be granny smiths.
“It’s not yet a major variety for us, but we’re relatively new to the grannys,” Albano said.
The premier apple variety at Cuyama Orchards is the fuji.
“We have a very high-brix, exceptional fuji,” Albano said.
Picking of early fujis is scheduled to begin about Sept. 25, he said, with the standard fuji season expected to start about Oct. 15.
Apples are the major commodity at Cuyama Orchards, but a featured item is the crimson gold crabapple.
“It’s a small, sweet crab apple,” Albano said, “And we’re certainly the country’s largest grower-shipper of crimson golds.”
Yet another of the company’s major apple varieties is Pink Ladies; the harvest is scheduled to start in early November.
Cuyama Orchards also grows limited supplies of organic heirloom apples. Among them are Arkansas blacks, spitzenbergs and pippins, Albano said.
Acreage at Cuyama Orchards this season increased by more than 25% when a 60-acre block received organic certification.
“That brings our total to 265 organic certified acres,” Albano said.
The volume will ramp up in the coming years, he said, because some of the orchards have not yet reached maturity.
Cuyama Orchards will have promotable supplies of apples through the holidays and will continue to ship the organic fruit at least through March and possibly into April, Albano said.
Retailers make up the lion’s share of the company’s customers, followed by wholesalers. The company also serves a limited number of foodservice customers, Albano said.
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Comments (7)
Leave a commentCarol Jean Jones
Report AbuseI have been purchasing the small organic fuji apples ( at Farmer Joe's Marketplace) and they have been wonderful. those apples make a great snack with a handful of raw Almonds or a nice cheese ( such as Pecorino Romano or Trader Joe's Tuscano Cheese with Black Pepper). Thank you and have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family & friends.
Regards,
Carol Jean Jones
Kris Johnson Michiels
Report AbuseI have just tried Cuyama Orchard's Black Arkansas apple and am totally in love with them.
Must go get some more!!!
Jennine
Report AbuseI am chomping on my first Cuyama Orchard's Black Arkansas apple. Pretty tasty, seems to have been picked when fully ripened
instead of too early to survive shipping and storage like many places. Probably because the farm is located a few hours north but still, the fresher the better!
Cale Lowther
Report AbuseYour granny smith green apples are honestly THE BEST apples! I juice on a regular basis and love to use only granny smith apples. They are huge and has a great taste. You usually dont get size growing organically so I was surprised by the size of the apples.
Selkii
Report AbuseCuyama Orchards' Pink Ladies at Farmer Joe's - absolutely delicious! Wish I could get those Arkansas Blacks.
Carr
Report AbuseYour pink ladies and granny smiths both do it for me. And a huge shout-out to you for growing a truly pesticide and chemical-free apple. Your apples taste fantastic, and they don't have any of that bitter or waxy reside that smacks of pesticides. Seriously, I will not buy apples from any farm other than yours. I seek out your label at teh store, as does my husband. Thank you for sticking to your organic guns. It's not just a matter of taste but of health and of environmental integrity. Truly organic consumers know this and will reward you for acting in good faith.
chett a maruyama
Report AbuseYou have the very best. I just love your apples. Is it possible to take a tour to see these Fuji apple trees. I have never seen one. Thank you for producing such great apples.
aloha
chett