Domestic Apples Outlook

With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. The shine on Northwest Apples is looking pretty bright in the domestic market as growers near the end of this year's harvest.

Washington Apple Commission president Todd Fryhover says with U.S. apple consumption up every year since 2010, the future looks promising ...

TODD FRYHOVER-AD-3 = 24 sec ... "Two-thirds to 70 percent of the product moves into the domestic market. The new varieties being produced in abundance in Washington state are destined for the U.S. domestic market, so it looks like it's a real bright future providing customers in the United States with the varieties that they want. You know, a different taste and texture for every palate. So yes, I'm very optimistic about the domestic market."

Fryhover says the ever-expanding list of apple varieties continues to get longer, but it's not clear when or if that trend will slow down anytime soon ...

TODD FRYHOVER-AD-5 = 14 sec ... "Well that's a good question and one I don't know if anyone can, you know, answer, but I can say that all of these new varieties are driven by consumer's taste and preference and those are healthy. Those are very, very healthy things for our industry."

In the export market, he says obstacles like the value of the U.S. dollar and the expansion of growing operations in other countries is boosting competition and could pose issues for both packers and shippers in the year ahead.

Fryhover says we still have a decided edge with the iconic Red Delicious that continues to be in demand internationally, something that wasn't a given a decade ago.