The days of Red Delicious apples dominating the grocery stores may soon be over. Consumers are slowly but surely becoming more aware of newer varieties on the market, such as Honeycrisp, pictured on the left. Honeycrisp is an early season variety that has been getting more shelf space on retailer shelves recently and has almost a cult-like following at farmers’ markets. For Example, at a farmers’ market that I worked at last Saturday 27 crates of Honeycrisp apples were sold; the next highest total for any other single variety was 3. For anybody who has compared a Red Delicious to a Honeycrisp, let’s face it, the Red Delicious doesn’t even compare. Many people blame the fact that the Red Delicious’ genes were tampered with in order to ensure a perfect red color for its lack of flavor compared to other varieties. Some people are concerned that the Honeycrisp and other varieties like Gala or Pink Lady could face the same fate unless measures are taken to prevent breeding for high color strains at the compromise of flavor.
As it stands right now, the prices for Honeycrisp apples are substantially higher than Red Delicious prices. This is a result of the supply and demand factors as well as higher production costs for Honeycrisp; however, prices could eventually level off as more acres are planted. The bottom line is that consumers are becoming more aware of the wide array of variety choices that they now have and are demanding apples with unique and distinct taste profiles.
