SweeTango is Coming Soon

The new apple variety MN 1914 not only has a new name, it now has a target date for appearing on supermarket shelves.

Apple growers across the country should be familiar with SweeTango, a cross between Honeycrisp and Zestar!. It was developed by the same Minnesota apple breeders who came up with Honeycrisp, and is expected to hit store shelves beginning in fall 2009.

SweeTango is a managed variety and will be grown and marketed by The Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative. Experienced growers from Minnesota, New York, Washington, Canada, and elsewhere were selected to participate in growing SweeTango, with the goal of maintaining high-quality fruit by ensuring it is produced in the most appropriate areas, by the best possible growers.

SweeTango is marked by its unique and complex sweet flavor, its juiciness, and the initial “crunch” that comes from biting into it. From a grower standpoint, breeders are optimistic that SweeTango will not be prone to some of the bitter pit and dropping problems that have made Honeycrisp a challenge to grow.

In the coming months, stay tuned to American Fruit Grower and Western Fruit Grower for more information on SweeTango from the growers involved in cultivating it, to the marketing leaders who hope it will make a quick splash among consumers.