Like skinny jeans and ankle socks, McIntosh and Red Delicious apples are old-fashioned.
Driving the news: Italian agriculture company Sanifrutta unveiled Lilibet, a new apple variety that’s easy to grow and ripens fast. It’s the latest variety to enter the competitive apple marketplace as breeders race to develop tastier, more resilient varieties.
In Canada: New apples approved for sale over the past year include Snowflake — which seeks to take Honeycrisp’s title of tastiest apple — and the non-browning Arctic Gala, developed to reduce food waste.
Why it matters: Apples continued to be one of Canada’s most popular fruits last year, with sales rising 2.9% as shoppers shelled out more for flashier varieties. Despite this, production dropped by 3.7%, largely due to the continued decline of B.C.’s apple-growing regions.
- This disparity between demand and barriers to production illuminates the need for new varieties that can handle climate challenges and meet consumer tastes.
Yes, but: Launching a new apple variety often takes over 20 years, and there’s no guarantee that it’ll take off. “Picking new apple varieties is a bit like picking for the stock market,” one farmer told Ontario Apple Growers. “[They] could either pay off well or completely flop.”—QH