Yakima, Wash.-based Sage Fruit Co. has announced the marketer will have SugarBee apples for the 2022 crop marketing season.
The availability of the variety through Sage is made possible through the company’s newly formed partnership with Chelan Fruit, according to a news release.
“We feel this is an excellent opportunity for our organization and we are thrilled to be able to supply our retail and wholesale partners, as well as our foodservice customers, with the SugarBee,” said Chuck Sinks, Sage Fruit’s president of sales and marketing.
SugarBee harvest will begin in early October, with several packaging options available, according to the release.
“We are excited by the opportunity to supply SugarBee apples this season,” Steve Clement, CEO of Sage Fruit Co., said in the release. “The SugarBee is an outstanding apple that consumers have come to know and love. Partnering with Chelan Fruit has increased our company’s ability to supply our customers with the best-tasting, highest-quality tree fruit Washington State has to offer, and we’re thrilled they’ve entrusted us with this specialty variety this season.”
Sage Fruit sales and marketing teams will be working closely with the firm’s partners to build unique programs utilizing marketing and merchandising techniques that will increase sales at retail, according to the release.
Chelan Fruit joined the Sage Fruit family of growers, packers and shippers to enhance the marketing, sales and distribution of their Washington-grown tree fruit at the beginning of the 2022 cherry season. Through this partnership, Chelan Fruit will contribute considerable volume of conventional and organic apples and pears during this upcoming season, according to the release.
Chelan Fruit is a nearly 3,000-acre farming operation, complete with its own packing and cold storage facilities, and is one of Washington’s leading fruit producers.
