An International Release Is Good News For Apple Growers
February 29, 2016 
Christina Herrick
Since I joined American Fruit Grower® and Western Fruit Grower® magazines, I’ve been able to travel across the country and into parts of Canada, and I’ve also been able to sample some of the best tree fruit grown in North America. I’m also very lucky to try new varieties that my friends and family haven’t heard of yet.
Once such apple is ‘EverCrisp,’ the first managed release from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association (MAIA). By now, I’m sure you’re familiar with MAIA, the grass roots, grower-owned co-operative that focuses on breeding varieties of apples designed for the challenging Midwestern climate. Volunteers from the organization made the first crosses in 1997. Now, almost 20 years later, all that hard work is paying off.
‘EverCrisp’ has been nothing short of a success for MAIA, with more than a million trees ordered in the U.S. This ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Fuji’ cross has been delighted growers with the “crunch” consumers have grown to accept as a commonality in modern apples, a sweet and tart flavor akin to a ‘Fuji,’ and excellent storability.
Growers also enjoy the flexibility that this managed release offers, meaning the variety is not tied to being grown in a specific region. Any MAIA member is eligible to grow ‘EverCrisp.’ MAIA has a lot to celebrate these days, with some advanced cultivars either in the patenting process or going to be patented.
The biggest news, of course, is the recent news of an agreement between MAIA and International Pome Fruit Alliance (IPA) for the development of MAIA’s first release under the trademark ‘EverCrisp.’
I talked to our 2015 Apple Grower of the YearSM, Bill Dodd of Amherst, OH, about the announcement when he was in Berlin for the official signing and celebratory slice of ‘EverCrisp.’
Dodd said MAIA members are excited to build and promote ‘EverCrisp’ across the globe. He also mentioned how instrumental board member David Doud, an Indiana grower, has been in securing this agreement.
“They’re very excited,” Dodd says of IPA. “They’re a relatively newly formed group. This is the first international variety that they will take to the world.”
Dodd says IPA, whose members are apple and pear growers, packers, and marketers, is a good fit with MAIA’s background. And now almost twenty years after MAIA’s first crosses, this grower group has their first advanced selection heading to bigger things abroad. Dodd says the agreement is just the beginning for ‘EverCrisp.’
“There’s an evaluation phase the IPA members will be going through to evaluate how ‘EverCrisp’ performs in their area. It’s going to be a while before there’s any in the grocery store,” he says. “There’s a learning curve with the whole production side of it. There’s going to be testing done to determine the optimum harvest date.”
But, part of the modern commercialization of a new apple is to get the variety into as many hands as possible. While MAIA members could benefit by keeping a tight market for themselves on a great new apple like ‘EverCrisp,’ the whole industry can benefit by getting a good-tasting piece of fruit in front of as many consumers as possible. And that is only going to grow demand for apples as a whole.
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