YAKIMA, WA - Opal® Apple achieved record highs in weekly volume, delivering over one million pounds of fresh Opals to retail stores across both the U.S. and Canada.
This is a record-breaking fifth season for the company.
“We’re having a great Opal season with tremendous momentum. Consumers are telling us how much they love the apple, retailers are having great pull-throughs and consequently, we’re experiencing record shipments,” Keith Mathews, CEO of FirstFruits Marketing of Washington, said in a press release. “We’re so honored to have solid retail relationships to help us sell through nearly 1 million pounds of Opals in one week. Without their support, we could not get Opals to consumers.”
A cross between Topaz and Golden Delicious, Opal apples has shown significant numbers since being made available in November, according to the release.
Along with volume, the company experienced record-breaking numbers in the amount of retailers and consumer outreach by the time it reached the end of its 7-day shipping period on March 8.
Average weekly volume is currently running 28 percent higher than last season in comparison, while the number of retailers has reached a record 85 percent of top retailers in the U.S. and Canada carrying Opal apples in stores.
According to the release, Opal has seen a rise in consumer reach after a marketing campaign that reached over 1.1 million consumers.
This product is currently available in limited quantities, and is expected to run through April.
