The first boxes of SnapDragon apples are arriving in stores as growers across New York state are handpicking the Crunch Time Apple Growers apple. This proprietary variety is the official apple of the Buffalo Bills football team, according to a news release.
“Perfectly timed rain and cool evenings are making for a beautiful crop, with great color, perfect size and phenomenal flavor,” Crunch Time executive director Jessica Wells said in the release.
Crunch Time is a cooperative of more than 150 New York State-based growers. The group said this year’s crop increased by 25%, thanks to trees planted a few years ago that are now producing apples. And that trend should continue for Crunch Time as some growers are in their final year of the most recent SnapDragon acreage increase, which will allow production to continue to increase steadily over the next few years.
Last season, SnapDragon had a monster year, as sales were up more than 30% overall and 40% among Crunch Time’s top retailers, according to the release. As SnapDragon kicks off this year’s harvest with a larger crop and a new partnership with the Buffalo Bills, sales are expected to outpace last season’s.
Consumers can expect SnapDragon apples at Wegmans, Aldi (in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Florida), Publix, HEB, Food Lion, Trader Joe’s (select stores), The Fresh Market, Tops, Costco (select clubs), ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Sprouts and Safeway (East Coast) and others in the coming days and weeks.
SnapDragon apples were developed by Susan Brown of Cornell University in Geneva, N.Y. Commercially, all of the apples are grown in New York, which gives the variety a competitive advantage over West Coast premium apples in terms of more cost-effective transportation to primary selling regions, according to the release.
For more information on where to buy SnapDragon apples, visit snapdragonapple.com.
