Two US apple marketing, growing, packing, and shipping specialists have combined their similar backgrounds and separate expertise to promote apple varieties, including the sweet, juicy Honeycrisp.
Stemilt Inc, based in Wenatchee, Washington, and Pepin Heights Orchards, in Lake City, Minnesota, created a product marketing alliance this month.
Stemilt marketing director Roger Pepperl labelled the collaboration a “unique partnership, capitalising on each company's similar history and maximising the unique strengths each company has to offer”.
Both Stemilt and Pepin Heights have deep roots in the tree fruit industry, having planted their first trees in 1960 and 1949 respectively.
While Stemilt is known for being a significant packer-shipper of many of the nation's leading apple varieties and the leading organic fruit shipper in Washington, Pepin Heights is best known as one of the Midwest's largest producers of Honeycrisp and a major shipper of high culinary varieties. Pepin Heights includes unique apples such as Fireside and Sweet 16, a variety the company owns, in its portfolio. It also ships Cortland, McIntosh, and Haralson apples.
But the initial focus of the alliance will be on Honeycrisp. The apple was introduced by the University of Minnesota's apple breeding programme in 1991 and has gained rapid popularity. It's a large apple with an aromatic scent and a sweet-tart flavour. About 70 acres of Pepin Heights' own orchards are planted to this variety, and the
company has a thriving business marketing, packing, and shipping Honeycrisp from growers in five states and two Canadian provinces.
"Stemilt will have Honeycrisp coming into production in the upcoming seasons," Pepperl said. "We are very excited about the future of this variety and are looking forward to working with Pepin Heights because they are experts in Honeycrisp."
Stemilt has apple varieties it owns and a "huge interest" in target marketing unique fruit varieties, Pepperl said.
No comments yet