New York apple growers vote to continue $2 million marketing order

New York apple growers have voted to continuing the marketing order they fund through assessments, which have been almost $2 million in recent years.

Through a referendum every eight years, the state’s apple growers are asked to approve of the program, which is administered by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, according to a news release.

The marketing program promotes the state’s most iconic produce to both consumers and retail buyers, state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said in the release.

“From high-profile television ads to marketing efforts at the point of sale in the grocery store, the (Apple Marketing Order) is responsible for encouraging apple sales in the marketplace as well as attracting consumers to visit New York’s farms during harvest season,” Ball said in the release.

The order was established in 1959 to provide marketing initiatives and promotions for the state’s apple industry.

“With the ongoing challenges that we face, in our industry, it is important that we continue to make every effort to professionally represent our products to markets across the United States and the world,” Ward Dobbins, president of United Apple Sales and H.H. Dobbins Inc. and Apple Marketing Order advisory board member, said in the release.

The order funds the New York Apple Association, whose marketing efforts have led to 55 million consumer impressions through TV, radio and social media, association president and CEO Cynthia Haskins said in the release. 

The association’s new website has attracted more than 125,000 new visitors since mid-August, she said.

Also, the association started a You-Pick destination campaign in 2019 that continued through the 2020 apple harvest.

“We are thrilled with the results,” Haskins said in the release. “We have established the direct-to-consumer, apple packer-shipper, along with innovation and progression committees to move the New York apple industry forward.”