The Washington State apple harvest has been finalized and apples are now in cold storage and controlled atmosphere rooms. “The crop size overall looks fantastic to around 134 million boxes,” says Randy Hartmann, President of Pacificpro Sales. This number is higher than the five-year average and up 29 percent from last year’s 104 million boxes, which was a much smaller crop than the state had been used to. Growers anticipate sizing to be one to two sizes up from last season, which would put Washington apples peaking around 88 to 100 ct.
Honeycrisp up 62 percent
The top five varieties have remained the same. “Gala tops the list once again this year, beating out the venerable Red Delicious, which Washington State has been known for for so long,” said Hartmann. This season, Gala accounted for about 20 percent of the total crop, equaling around 26.5 million cartons. Honeycrisp came in second at 19.6 million boxes, or 14.5 percent of the total crop, which is a whopping 62 percent up over last year. “The high Honeycrisp supply is being reflected in the pricing right now, which is much lower than last year or years past.” Granny Smith accounted for 13.8 percent of the crop, and Red Delicious 13 percent, putting it in fourth place. “I think it’s the first time we’re seeing Red Delicious this low,” commented Hartmann. Closing the top 5 is Fuji at 11.7 percent of the total overall Washington crop. The top five is followed by Golden Delicious, Pink Lady and Cosmic Crisp. “Cosmic Crisp is considered the newest more broadly grown variety and accounts for about 5 percent of the total crop this season.”
The other 15 percent roughly is made up of many of the newer club varieties. Envy, Smitten, Rave, Jazz, Autumn Glory, Crimson Delight and many others. The portion of the overall crop that meets the organic standard continues to increase. It’s accounted for about 15 percent of the 134 million boxes this season.
Flawless growing season
The large crop is due mainly to a nearly flawless growing season and growing conditions in spring and summer. There were no significant freezes or snow during bloom, and no measurable hailstorms or damage. In addition, summer was moderate with warm temperatures, but not too hot, putting the temperatures in the 90-degree range during the day, not really exceeding the 100 degree mark. “These ideal daytime temperatures, coupled with cooler evenings bring on the color and sizing we look for as well as the crispness and overall flavor the consumer desires.”
All in all, Washington is experiencing a good size crop that the shippers in the state will be able to market for the rest of the year into new crop 2024, which starts mid-August.
For more information:
Randy Hartmann
Pacificpro Sales
Tel: (+1) 425-885-7200
[email protected]
www.pacprosales.com