For decades, the Red Delicious logo epitomised the Washington offer around the world, and more than $750 million (£360m) was spent over the years promoting it. But a seminal court ruling in 2003, after the WAC was taken to court by many of its own members, slashed the marketing budget and in fact removed the budget for domestic promotion of the logo altogether.
The WAC does maintain its membership of the USApple Association and so continues to represent its members’ political interests domestically, but it is a shadow of its former self on the home front. However, the commission can still command a budget of $30-35m in a good crop year, counting on a levy of 3.5c per exported carton, and the industry has largely sustained its support for the international marketing effort.
In 2007, a slimmed-down version of the WAC works out of its Wenatchee office, and 13 representatives are employed to represent its activities in 30 countries around the world, with George Smith the man in the seat for the UK, as well as the Middle East and North Africa.
Todd Fryhover is a project manager for the WAC, having held several differing roles in the apple sector over the last 20 years. He says: “The growers guide our actions and they are still free to use the logo on their boxes. It remains a big asset for the state and the industry.”
Export-wise, he says that India, China and Russia are all seen as destinations with huge potential for the apple industry, but the UK remains a big focus. “Mature markets such as the UK are extremely important. We don’t see huge changes in volume, but as they mature, we have to adapt to changing tastes. In the UK, we sell around 1.5m boxes a year, but it is our second-biggest organic market and very big for Pink Lady. When you look at our varieties and the volume of organics going into the ground, it is obvious that the UK offers great value,” says Fryhover.
PIONEER TO STAR ON TV
Not many apple growers have hour-long television documentaries made about them, but the late Grady Auvil is one such man. Seen as one of the true pioneers and an icon of the Washington State industry, Auvil started his company in 1928 and was involved at all levels of the industry from then until his death.
Sometimes characterised as an eccentric, even difficult man, Auvil was an inventive, opinionated fruit farmer who spent a lifetime blazing trails and planting seeds for the future.
He helped to shape the communities of North Central Washington, where he farmed for 70 years and indubitably changed the landscape of the tree-fruit industry. (To find out more, go to www.auvildoc.org).
Back into the present, though, all of the fruit that finds its way through the Auvil Fruit packhouse is grown in-house, on one of three ranches. The family has a controlling interest, but the growers all have an interest, one of the many philosophies that stood the founder apart from his contemporaries.
He was also a man willing to take chances, according to sales manager Brian Sand. “Grady enjoyed looking at the new things coming in,” he says. “He fell in love with Fuji, for instance, and wasn’t as keen on Gala.” Highly unusual in the state, the Auvil portfolio includes Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith and Cameo, with no Red or Golden Delicious.
That Auvil’s concept was ahead of its time has been borne out in recent years. “What has driven us on is a renaissance of high-end and smaller grocery stores in the US. That is our target market, and while they have prospered, so have we,” says Sand. “We don’t have as much volume as we could sell, which makes it pretty easy marketing-wise. I can’t wait to see what happens with Tesco stores. The Fresh & Easy idea makes sense, and should be our kind of customer.”
Brett Drescher, orchard manager of the ranch in Orondo, adds that his boss was a keen exponent of the Australian Tatura v-trellis production system, and not only believed wholeheartedly that intensive planting and intelligent nutritional application would bring greater yields, but proved it every year. He took FPJ into a 27-year-old Granny Smith block which had produced 127 bins an acre this season. “It’s all about tree density - 1,800 an acre - and planting the trees at a 45° angle for uniform light exposure, then using the right nutrient programme to get you where you want to be tonnage-wise,” Drescher says.
“You have to look at the market and decide where you want to be. If you can get 60 bins an acre and the industry average is 35-40 bins, why wouldn’t you. There is a fixed cost per acre for irrigation, labour, etc… and greater density can increase that. But it does not have to affect quality. Grady was a very political man and extremely well travelled - he knew the trends and selected the ones that best suited his own production.”
The company continues to look into the future with its development, even though the old man is no longer on the scene. A New Zealand-manufactured colour-sorting machine and internal defect grader will be integral to its future with Fuji, which can suffer from internal breakdown issues. “The Compac Vision 5000 is very exciting,” says Sand. “It is a learning curve, but promises to be very accurate. The guys in New Zealand are working with us in real time; they know if there is a problem before we do.”
DOVEX ORGANIC COMMITMENT
The Washington Apple Commission (WAC) estimates that the state’s crop could be as much as 10 per cent organic in the next five years, which, given an average crop of roughly 100 million cartons, means 10m cartons of organic apples will pass through packhouses every year.
This is way above the average for most industries around the world, and also above the obvious potential line. Just below five per cent of the US retail market for fresh produce is said to be organic, although some dispute that figure. And the UK, which is the state’s second-biggest export destination for organic fruit, comes in far below that level.
However, there is innate belief in Washington that the state is the best-placed in the world to meet growing organic demand, and growers have been quick to make their pitch.
At Dovex, across the road from the WAC headquarters in Wenatchee, Jim Bryant says the grading and packing lines, which are amongst the most immaculately maintained in the world, will be 75 per cent filled with organic apples and pears next season. “From next season, one of our lines will be totally dedicated to organic,” he says. “There is a lot of acreage going through the final stages of the conversion process this year. We will easily be the biggest doing this for a while, and it is a huge commitment, but there are a lot of customers asking for organic who are prepared to pay for it.”
Around 500 bins of fruit go through the facility each day during the season, and Dovex sends a decent volume to the UK. “The organic crop tends to be maybe one size smaller,” says Bryant, “which can work very well for the export market.”
ABHOLD: COME AND SEE RAINIER’S VALUE TO COMMUNITY
Rainier’s enormous facility at Selah, Washington, sees around 2.5 million apples going through its pre-sizing and grading lines each day during the season, around a quarter of the company’s overall apple throughput.
The family-owned business invested $25 million (£12.4m) in the packhouse, storage, distribution and administrative centre when it was first built, in 1999, and has continually invested in its upgrading since. It rotates up to 42,000 bins of fruit on any given day at peak periods, using the pack-to-order system that has seen that rotation period drop from around 30 days down to just four.
Another major investment project is in place now, as 19 new loading bays are added onto the facility, with an additional 170,000-case storage capacity.
Thousands of locals are employed by the company, yet director of sales Randy Abhold says it is still the focal point of unjust criticism. “Apples are big news, with sales through outlets such as McDonald’s and schools soaring, and that puts us in the limelight. But unfortunately, most people want to talk about the fans on our roof or the size of our factory.
“The reality is that this facility is not only a help to our industry, but also makes a huge contribution to our community and society in general,” he says. “There is a significant disconnect between society and growers though, and not enough recognition of growers’ unique contribution to the local and national economy and to the global environment. If you’re looking for the greenest people out there - how about the farmer?”
Abhold also says the debate on immigration raging in the US political corridors should touch on horticulture. “Everybody appears to see immigrants as negative to the economic make-up of our country, but we have more jobs than people here,” he says. “If we don’t produce this product, it will need to be imported.
“We have nothing to hide and if anybody wants to take a tour of our facility, they are always welcome.”
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