Washington Grower Awarded License To New Apple

MN #1955 apple.

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The University of Minnesota has awarded Stemilt Growers the license to grow, pack, and market a new, early to ripen apple cultivar. The patent name for the cultivar is MN55, and the University of Minnesota plans to trademark a name for the fruit in conjunction with Stemilt in the near future.

MN55 was born 17 years ago at the University of Minnesota’s exceptional apple breeding program, the same place that the now national phenomenon Honeycrisp heralds from. The new cultivar has exceptional flavors, color, and fracture and will be the first variety to harvest in Washington State and go to market come 2017.

MN55 is a cross between Honeycrisp and an unreleased variety labeled as AA44 that is sometimes known as MonArk. With similar yet more defined flavor and quality attributes as Honeycrisp and AA44’s characteristics to ripen early yet color well and maintain a crisp, juicy texture through the summer heat, Stemilt believes the new cultivar is a real winner.

“We have a small block of trees that will produce small volumes of fruit come 2017, and a larger planting that will increase volumes for 2018 and beyond. We are thrilled at the prospect of having a high dessert quality apple that will reinvent the month of August for the apple category,” said Stemilt marketing director Roger Pepperl. “MN55 is very juicy and sweet and holds excellent pressures. These are unusual qualities for such an early apple to possess, and the exact qualities that consumers have come to love in an apple.”

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The journey to develop a new apple cultivar is not a quick process and requires great efforts. During the 17 years from original breeding to the final release and licensing of MN55 to Stemilt, the University of Minnesota conducted rigorous testing to ensure that the variety was of high enough quality to be commercially released. This process included 5-6 years of testing at multiple locations across the U.S.

“We are pleased to release a new variety with the quality of MN55. It represents our goal of developing new apple varieties that will give the consumer a memorable eating experience. We believe that it will join its close relatives, Honeycrisp and SweeTango, in creating a sense of excitement for the consumer when they shop for apples,” said David Bedford, research scientist for the University of Minnesota apple breeding program.

“An apple cultivar like MN55 is a rare find and right at home in Washington State. It’s an early season apple that explodes with flavor and will be the perfect refreshing start to apple season for consumers. We can’t wait to introduce it,” said Pepperl.

MN55 is another chapter in Stemilt’s story of bringing innovative varieties and products to market. The company successfully introduced its signature apple variety, Piñata! to the marketplace in 2009, and also supplies the West Coast with the popular SweeTango apple. The company also has an award-winning branded kids fruit program, Lil Snappers and late season cherry programs, Kyle’s Pick and Half Mile Closer to the Moon.

“Innovation is deeply rooted in our company heritage, and bringing a new apple cultivar like MN55 is a perfect representation of our commitment to continuing this trend for the future. We’re working every day to deliver fruit that delights the consumer in order to build consumption and fruit consumers for the future,” said Pepperl.

In the coming months, Stemilt and the University of Minnesota will develop a trademark name for the apple. “It’s going to be fun to name an apple that will have so much appeal to the marketplace. It will be a signal for an early coming to the apple season, and hold a great position in back-to-school promotions in order to boost the apple category during a time of year that has previously gone untapped,” said Pepperl.

Source: Stemilt Growers

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Avatar for Tom Tom says:

Again selective agreements ruin the business grass roots is the only way to go. This limited product introduction attempt will fail. Grass roots movement made the HoneyCrisp apple what it is. Local Growers introduced it to the G Q public. Just like other attempts to introduce other Apples. U want a great apple then local growers have to grow it. Thats my take.

Avatar for Sam Sam says:

but for local MN growers, who raise & market U of M apples, new varieties such as SweeTango will have remained largely obsuce. Those growers, who do the groundwork to popularize these apples & thereby help raise revenues for the U have a profound impact on the market, yet are irrelevant to the U of M. Time for the U to change irritating policies towards MN growers, otherwise a widening discontent & disconnect will ensue.

Avatar for Southern Tier Farmer Southern Tier Farmer says:

This apple variety was developed in a LAND GRANT UNIVERSITY established by congress. It is funded with TAXPAYER monies. Therefore this variety should be available to ALL citizens of the U.S.A. This is highly unethical and smacks of crony capitalism. Stemilt is sullying its reputation by doing this and Minn U. is lowering its reputation of being a university of Agriculture and research for the people of this country.

Avatar for David Lindquist David Lindquist says:

I can’t believe that a land grant institution like the University of Minnesota continues to work on destroying the small apple grower’s market in the Midwest (Wisconsin in particular) by selling distribution rights to one large Washington grower. In the future the Washington apples will be into the stores earlier than the apples we will be able to grow.

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