With obsolete varieties we cut prices to keep market share.Cutting prices is not a
measure of competition.It reflects obsolescence.
to Meet Consumer Needs
WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center
Wenatchee, WA
Annual IDFTA Conference, Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada, February 20-24, 1999.
Products in greater demand and of more value must replace obsolete products for producers to
survive.Promoting obsolete products does not improve product value.To the consumer internal
fruit quality is more important than appearance.Paying producers for appearance, red color and
large size is counterproductive.Expecting apples from 10 to 12-month CA storage to have
optimal quality is unrealistic and ignores consumer needs.Inventing new products—varieties, in
the case of apples—is essential to keep ahead of the competition.
Consumers recognize apple varieties and buy
them by name.Varieties are thefocal point of changein the apple world and a variety change
impacts growing, handling and marketing.However, there must be a reason to change apple
varieties.The consumer is thereason to change.
Part 1.Apple Varieties, the Focus of Change
With apples, unlike other fruits, the variety itself is important when the consumer makes a
purchase.The consumer has a choice of varieties and usually knows the varieties by name,
appearance and eating quality.In the apple business the focus of change is the variety.Because
change is occurring so quickly in all aspects of society, it is important to adapt and to build
change into every business.Change is certainly occurring in the way we produce, handle,
market and sell apples.Consumer preferences are changing and the choice of apple varieties
offered to the consumer has changed.It is necessary to accept that change will occur and that it
will occur more and more quickly.
Building Change into Your Orchard Business
There are important reasons to build change into your orchard business and into our apple
industry:
•Accepting the status quo means a decrease in the value of a variety because new varieties
become available.
•Customers demand improved products and, if we do not supply the new varieties, someone
else will.
•If the product we provide is obsolete, we will be denied access to capital.
Space allows
mention of just two.“Mr. Change” in the Washington fruit industry would certainly be Grady
Grady Auvil passed away at 93 in late December 1998.He was the first to
plant commercial acreages of Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji.To take advantage of the high, early
prices for these varieties, he planted at high densities in double rows on dwarfing M.26 and M.9
rootstocks.He changed the canopy structure from vertical to angled to improve light penetration
into the center of the canopy.He planted Granny Smith at high densities with dwarfing
rootstocks almost 10 years before others in the Washington industry started planting high density
orchards with Gala and Fuji in the late ’80s.He recognized the importance of getting into
production quickly.Grady Auvil was also the first to commercialize Rainier cherries.He did so
because of the very high quality (size, appearance, firmness and sweetness) of the product.His
motivation for change to Gala, Fuji and Rainier cherries was to supply the consumer with a very
pleasing eating experience.More about the importance of the consumer later.
of Doyle and Thyra Fleming and son Tye, also of Orondo, Washington.They were among the
earliest to plant Granny Smith, Gala, Braeburn and Cameo.They have changed to more
dwarfing rootstocks and planted at higher and higher tree densities.Doyle enjoys saying, “I have
never planted the same system twice.”
Are Some AppleVarieties Obsolete?
If any product (including an apple variety) is old, mature, old-fashioned, less in use or no longer
current, and it receives a low price, it isobsolete.
In
many cases, they do not know it.In other cases, they are in denial.They still believe in the cash
cow, even though the cow is going dry and is headed for the slaughterhouse.McIntosh in
Canada and the northeastern U.S., green-fruited Golden Delicious in Europe, Jonathan in the
midwestern U.S. and Red Delicious in Washington and throughout North America are examples
of obsolete varieties.
Cutting prices is not a measure of
competition.It reflects obsolescence.It means there is a better, improved and more valuable
product in the marketplace.With every cut in price, the life expectancy of a product diminishes.
These observations clearly apply to McIntosh and Red Delicious.
Apple Variety Life Cycles
An apple variety goes through a predictable life cycle.It begins with invention (breeding) or
discovery (chance seedlings, mutations) and proceeds through introduction, emergence
(increasing plantings), extensive production and eventually to obsolescence and paralysis
(Figure 1).The speed at which varieties move through these stages varies.Today advancement
through the stages is more rapid than in the past.Some new varieties never advance from the
invention to the introduction stage, and many falter during the emergence phase.Today Pink
Lady® Cripps Pink cv., Cameo and Honeycrisp are emerging varieties in North America.
Varieties which have passed through obsolescence are Stayman and Winesap.
discovery to commercialization (Table 1).More recent varieties such as Braeburn, Empire,
Jonagold, Gala and Fuji have taken 20 to 30 years from introduction to commercialization.The
newest introductions, Pink Lady® Cripps Pink cv., Pacific Rose and Cameo, have taken
Since change in varieties
occurs so rapidly today, it is imperative that orchardists make every effort to become
knowledgeable about new introductions.
The approximate number of years it has taken for varieties to advance from their
discovery or invention to commercialization.
VarietyzYears to commercialization
Golden Delicious
Granny Smith
Braeburn (1952)
Gala (1960)
Fuji (1962)
Empire (1966)
Jonagold (1968)
Pink Lady® Cripps Pink cv. (1985)
Pacific Rose (1990s)
Cameo (1992)
zyear of introduction in brackets.
Over 50
Over 50
30 (in New Zealand)
20 (in New Zealand)
20 (in Japan)
25
20 (in Europe)
10
10
?
All varieties
have increasing prices when demand outstrips supply.This occurs from the time there is interest
in a new variety until it emerges as a commercial variety.At some point when supply exceeds
demand, prices begin to decline.Eventually as prices continue to decline in comparison with
other varieties and newly introduced varieties, the older variety becomes obsolete.Price
determines the length of time a variety remains at a particular life cycle stage.Declining prices
indicate extensive production of a variety and low prices are a measure of product maturity and
obsolescence.
Developing New Varieties
Inventing new varieties with traditional breeding programs may take 20 to 30 years.From the
introduction through the emergence phase may take an additional 10 years.If we wait until a
commercial variety is obsolete before beginning the task of inventing new varieties with plant
breeding, we will be too late to have new varieties in time to replace the obsolete products.It is
necessary to begin the reinvention process of breeding new varieties before the existing varieties
are extensively planted (Figure 1).
It will not introduce
new cultivars in time to replace the Delicious variety.Fortunately, Gala, Fuji, Braeburn, Pink
Lady® Cripps Pink cv. and Cameo have become commercial varieties that should be profitable
for a decade or more, forestalling the need for new replacement varieties until perhaps 2010.It
will still be necessary after 2010 for other new varieties from around the world to fill the gap
before new varieties are available from the Washington breeding program.
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