The Cosmic Crisp is Here Pt 2
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Your wait is over! The Cosmic Crisp, the first apple completely bred and developed in the state of Washington, is here. It hit store shelves on December 1st and, while limited in this first year, it can now be enjoyed by apple lovers.Proprietary Variety Management’s Kathryn Grandy says the Cosmic Crisp is so versatile …
GRANDY … “It’s an excellent eating apple. It also bakes very well and pairs with, you know, wine and cheese or peanut butter, almond butter, things like that. So, Cosmic Crisp is very versatile and is an exceptional apple.”
And if that’s not enough, Grandy says there’s more …
GRANDY … “We have Lighthouse Cider. Lighthouse is the number one refrigerated cider and dressing company in the U.S. So, they are making a Cosmic Crisp branded cider. I’ve tried it. It’s amazing!”
Grandy says the Cosmic Crisp came about because that’s what consumers wanted…
GRANDY … “Produce in general is headed towards being branded and many companies are going through a breeding programs to try and get what consumers want because their tastes have changed and, you know, consumers have a sophisticated pallet and they want better tasting fruit and vegetables. So, that is trending in the country right now and in the world.”
Grandy says so far, there are nearly 12-million Cosmic Crisp trees planted in Washington state, with more on the way.
The Cosmic Crisp comes after 20 years of study and research by Washington State University's world-class tree fruit breeding program. The cross between Honeycrisp and Enterprise keeps for a long time in storage and in the refrigerator.