WENATCHEE, WA - One of my earliest memories of working for AndNowUKnow was writing about Lemonade™ apples. It’s a variety near impossible to forget, and as Giumarra Companies celebrates the variety’s first domestic crop, I had to reach out.
“This will be our first commercially viable crop out of Washington,” Jason Bushong, Division Manager, shared with me. “The volumes coming out of the state should run now through the end of December. We’ve got 50,000 boxes this year, with new production next year tripling that.”
By 2025, Giumarra is expecting to see substantial volumes of its Lemonade apples. Additional acreage in Pennsylvania will help promote East Coast business as well.
“It’s still early, but we’re getting some good production where we’re able to expand our customer base and reach out to new customers that we haven’t before,” Jason added.
The response to the variety has been phenomenal, Jason noted, which is exactly the place any supplier would like to be.
“Our volumes haven’t been to the point where we can create a massive marketing campaign,” he explained, “but even without marketing, we’ve had consumers calling our office looking for Lemonade. The word-of-mouth demand behind this variety has been amazing to see.”
Lemonade creates quite a buzz on the yellow side of coloring in the apple category, and its remarkable taste only heightens its appeal.
Although the apple is currently in a while-supplies-last scenario, production will be ramping up in the years to come. You don’t want to miss out next year, do you?
Be sure to follow us here at AndNowUKnow for further updates.
