Premium apple varieties are taking a bigger bite of total apple sales, and Vancouver, British Columbia based The Oppenheimer Group is helping to keep the pipeline full of those desired apples.
With the BC Ambrosia, and Washington-grown Jazz, Envy, and Pacific Rose, Oppy offers four of the top 10 best-performing premium varieties in volume, David Nelley, vice president of Oppy’s apple, pear and cherry categories, said in a news release.
“Premium varieties now represent over a third of all apples on the shelf,” Nelley said in the release. “With so many good apples to choose from, we’re pleased to see Ambrosia, Jazz, Envy and Pacific Rose allow retailers to be regionally right depending on the flavor profile down to store level.”
Nelley said in the release that Northwest U.S. growing conditions throughout the summer have yielded a crop of high quality and preferred size profile.
“The BC Ambrosia is absolutely stunning this year,” Nelley said in the release, noting that Ambrosia holds the number three spot among premium apple varieties. “It’s well-established with consumers and offers a color break, with BC Tree Fruits rebranding in 2017 to segregate their superior quality standards over other Ambrosia grown around the province.”
Nelley said the Jazz apple from Washington began shipping in late October, with sizing larger this year compared with a year ago.
Oppy is offering greater volumes of organic Jazz this year, according to the release. The Jazz brand is owned by Oppy’s partner T&G Global of Auckland, New Zealand, as is the Pacific Rose and Envy, according to the release.
“With the Washington crop showing awesome color, this is the first time we’ve been able to offer Envy over a 12-month supply window,” Nelley said in the release. “Growing by 24% in category sales contribution in the last year, we continue to be very excited by Envy. Naturally non-browning, bright red and sweet, Envy’s wide appeal makes it be the best apple to originate out of New Zealand since the Royal Gala when I started out in this business.”
The Pacific Rose apple serves an important niche, Nelley said in the release.
Appealing to a slightly older shopper with a higher household income than typical apple purchasers, the release said Pacific Rose also delivers good results with ethnic retailers and in the stores of mainstream chains that serve Asian and Hispanic neighborhoods.
