One of the most interesting launches will hit US supermarkets in December 2019. It’s a new product that has been developed in the state of Washington. The Cosmic Crisp apple has a strong marketing campaign to back up the special properties of this new apple variety and many say that it’s something as big as the launch of the Pink Lady apple that was established in Australia.
Washington’s biggest breakthrough on the apple market
Washington is the biggest apple-producing state in the US and the Cosmic Crisp apple promises to be both crunchy and juicy, in a nutshell, everything you would expect from the perfect apple. This apple is not genetically engineered and it was obtained by crossing other apple varieties. The right to produce this apple variety is confined to Washington farmers until 2024 and can be extended up to 2034 when the patent on the Cosmic Crisp expires.
One of the apple varieties used to obtain the Cosmic Crisp was the Honeycrisp, released in 1991 by the University of Minnesota. The Cosmic Crisp was developed by the Washington State University and it’s the first apple that officially belongs to the state of Washington.
The Cosmic Crisp has all the qualities of a modern apple variety: beautiful appearance, a balance between sweetness and tartness, crispness and juiciness. Besides, it suits the needs of farmers as well because its flesh doesn’t turn brown or bruises easily and it can be stored for up to one year in cool places. This automatically means that it has a long shelf life, perfect for supermarkets.
The Cosmic Crisp was 20 years in the making
Also known as the WA 38, this apple is the result of 20 years of breeding made by the Washington State University researches. Growers have already planted around 12 million Cosmic Crisp trees and 450,000 boxes of this delicious new fruit will be available for sale this season. By 2020, it’s expected to have more than 2 million boxes on the shelves.
Considering that so much time and effort was put into the development of this new apple variety, it comes as no surprise that the marketing campaign for the launch of the Cosmic Crisp has a budget of 10.5 million US dollars. This may seem a little excessive, but the fruit does have to compete with plenty of other varieties on an already saturated market. After all, there are all kinds of apples available to consumers throughout the year.
An opportunity to reinvigorate the market and the industry
Apples are a big deal in the state of Washington because they are 2.5 billion US dollars a year business. Washington supplies about 60% of the apples grown in the US. The most popular apples varieties are Gala (23%), Red Delicious (20%) and Fuji (13%).
Therefore, this new launch is saluted by both farmers who have already included Cosmo Crisp trees in their orchards and by industry specialists like the Toni Lynn Adams, spokeswoman for the Washington Apple Commission.
Nutrition facts
According to the Cosmic Crisp website, 1 medium apple contains 72 calories, 0.23 grams fat, 19.06 grams carbs and 0.36 grams protein. Cultivated with naturally higher levels of sugar and acidity, the apples can be used for baking and cooking, allowing a reduced sugar quantity in the recipes.
One of the most exciting launches of the year on the fresh produce market will hit the stores on December 2019, and time will tell if the consumers will love the Cosmic Crisp or if they will avoid paying a higher price for apples, regardless of their flavor and qualities.
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