North Bay Produce supplies the market with larger crop of Michigan apples

The larger crop of Michigan apples should move out to strong demand this season, says Ken Korson, apple category manager for North Bay Produce, Traverse City, Mich.

“With the smaller crop from the [Northwest], demand is very high for Michigan apples and should continue throughout the summer,” Korson said.  “We will be much better positioned to move this large Michigan crop before fall 2023.”

North Bay Produce is a grower-owned cooperative, working for growers who own their own packing sheds, he said.

“We work hand in hand to grow and market the apple crop each year and have great relationships that help things run smoothly,” Korson said.

In August, the USDA projected 2022 apple production in Michigan at 68% higher than the frost-damaged crop of 2021.

The 2022 harvest doubled last year’s crop because of the great growing season and the absence of frost in the spring, Korson said.

“The 2021 crop had frost and hail, which we were lucky to avoid this year resulting in the largest fruit size we have seen among all Michigan apple growers," he said.

The biggest surprise of the season so far, Korson said, is the strong demand for Michigan large tray-pack fruit. 

Washington’s crop produced smaller fruit than usual, and Michigan has filled that gap with Michigan tray-pack apples, he said. Overall, the 2022-23 season represents an excellent opportunity for Michigan to move the larger crop to customers that are not normally pulling apples from the state.

Apple packaging is getting more specific to each customer, Korson said, and he said North Bay works hard to fulfill customer requests when asking for unique or private label packaging. 

“We are seeing much more pouch requests than in previous years, along with private label or private house brands,” he said.