Koru apple production set to rise

YAKIMA, Wash. - The Koru apple is coming on strong.

The managed variety, marketed in partnership with Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers, Borton & Sons in Yakima and New York Apple Sales, is set to find new consumers in the U.S. over the next few years.

The Koru is a natural cross between a fuji and braeburn found in a garden in New Zealand 13 years ago, said Bruce Turner, national marketing representative with Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers.

"The Koru gets an amazing response when we give it to consumers," he said.

The company has an extensive sampling program to introduce the variety to consumers, he said. By 2018, the Koru will be available year-round, with a combination of U.S. grown and imported supply from New Zealand.

Between the group of U.S. marketers, there will be 1,400 acres of Koru in the ground by 2020, said Scott Marboe, director of marketing for Oneonta.

That acreage will produce about 1.5 million cartons of U.S. grown Koru apples, he said. About a million cartons of New Zealand Koru are expected to be imported by 2020, Marboe said.

Oneonta's other proprietary variety is the Juici, which is just now starting to produce light volumes that will test-marketed this season, Marboe said.

By 2018, the Juici, a cross between a Braeburn and Honeycrisp, should have fairly good volume by 2018, he said.