Growing Global Market Share

Growing Global Market Share. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

This was not a bad year for apples in the state. Not a great year but still pretty optimistic even with the problems of moving apples through the ports. That global marketplace is extremely important to the apple industry according to Todd Fryhover, President of the Washington Apple Commission.

FRYHOVER: U.S. products, worldwide since the 1950's, have been thought of as high quality. When I travel to the 30 countries that I travel on an almost annual basis, U.S. products are very well thought of. Washington apples is the top of the international apple category. We are consistent; we're uniform; we're food safe; we're healthy nutritious; we have now a taste and texture for everyone.

A big upside is that according to Fryhover it's a high profit item.

FRYHOVER: When you talk about engaging those importers, you want to give them a product that they know they can sell and they can make money on. When you think about a market like China as an example, this importer has the probability or chance to choose Washington or Poland. Where is he going to choose? He's going to go with the group that has the best characteristics. We have those characteristics.

And food safety is a huge part of growing that global demand.

FRYHOVER: We do play on food safety as the Washington Apple Commission in these markets. We don't get out there and say "ours is better than yours," but we subtly talk about it. We talk about giving Washington apples to your child because you know it's health and you know that it's safe.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.