If you’re looking for an apple that is sweet, crisp and comes on early, the Oberlin, Ohio-based Midwest Apple Improvement Association says it has just what you need: the new Sweet Maia apple.
The latest of seven apples released by the association, Sweet Maia is available to members and is harvested as early as late August, said Bill Dodd, president.
It stores well at least until Thanksgiving, he said. The association continues to do controlled-atmosphere testing and gather more data on its lifespan.
“Sweet Maia keeps surprisingly well for as early as it harvests,” Dodd said.
The industry produces a lot of new apple brands, so it’s difficult to know if the Sweet Maia will catch on, he said.
The association has developed two other relatively new apples.
“EverCrisp is making some headway,” Dodd said.
Quite a few retailers have been carrying it for the past couple of years, and they continue to come back to it season after season.
“That one seems like it’s going to hang in there for a while,” he said.
However, Ludacrisp seems to have been caught up in the “too-many-varieties syndrome,” Dodd said.
“It’s been a good apple for farmers markets and pick-your-own operations, but it hasn’t really turned the corner on becoming a retail variety yet,” he said.
Despite the abundance of apple options, Dodd said, “We need to continue and innovate and come up with better apple varieties.”
Part of the solution might be to simply let some of the older apple varieties fade away, he said.
“Most of the new varieties are better than what we’ve historically had.”
Several apple breeding programs are ongoing in the U.S., including the state of Washington, Cornell University and the University of Minnesota, he said.
“Everybody is continuing to breed new varieties and working on finding the perfect apple.”
But there’s no single definition of a perfect apple.
For growers, it’s something that is disease resistant, provides good yields, has great color and is simple to grow, Dodd said. Consumers want “an awesome eating experience,” and retailers prefer a long shelf life.
“As an apple-breeding program, we’re trying to check as many of those boxes as we can,” he said.
