Chelan Fresh spotlights SugarBee apple at United Fresh LIVE!
Chelan Fresh, Chelan, Wash., is doubling the production of the SugarBee apple variety this year, and is inviting United Fresh LIVE! participants to learn more about the apple.
It’s the fifth season for the apple, and it has proven itself at retail, reigniting consumer excitement in the category and supporting retailers’ top lines, Julie DeJarnatt, Chelan Fresh retail strategy manager, said in a news release.
Chelan Fresh has updated SugarBee’s branding, with a more reflective tagline (“Oh honey, that’s good!:) and new package design with a vintage flair, according to the release.
“With so many apple varieties out there, as a grower you better have one that stands out. SugarBee does just that,” DeJarnatt said in the release. “This apple has opened doors for us with new retailers and premium accounts, once they tried it for themselves.”
The apple has a honeycomb-shaped Price Look-Up sticker, making it easier for shoppers to spot, and the vintage look of SugarBee’s packaging has also proven popular with consumers, according to the release.
Before this year’s harvest, Chelan Fresh is offering retailers 64-ounce shelf stable SugarBee cider in August.
“We sold out very quickly last fall, that left our partners wanting more,” DeJarnatt said in the release. “So this season we held back fruit in controlled atmosphere storage, so that we could get started on cider earlier this fall.”
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