Good Fruit Grower

June 1

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30 JUNE 2015 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com W ashington's Ambrosia apple crop could reach one million boxes in the coming year. It is now the state's tenth most important variety. Ambrosia, which originated in Canada, has also moved towards the top of the managed varieties produced in Washington, ranking third after Pink Lady (Cripps Pink) and Jazz. In the United States, McDougall and Sons in Wenatchee, Washington, holds an exclusive license to produce Ambrosia until 2019. Scott McDougall, a partner at the company, attributes Ambrosia's success to its sweet flavor, crisp texture, and attractive pink-red color over a white background. It tends to fall into the 72-to- 88 size range that U.S. retailers prefer. And then there's the name, Ambrosia, which he thinks consumers find very appealing. Something special Wilfrid and Sally Mennell discovered the apple as a chance seedling that sprang up in their orchard at Cawston, British Columbia, about 25 years ago. Wilfrid said there was no "Aha!" moment of discov- ery. It was an increasing awareness that the mys- terious apple might be something distinct and special. First, it caught the attention of their pickers, then Wilfrid's brothers, and then other apple growers. "You first of all start out with something that's interesting," he said. "Then, you find it grows rather nicely, and then a number of people try it." When the Mennells decided to com- mercialize the variety in 1993 and named it Ambrosia (meaning "food of the gods"), there was limited experience with club apples. Pink Lady (Cripps Pink cultivar) had been released as an open variety in the United States, but the variety owners were trying to make it a managed variety retrospectively. "At that time, they were trying to stuff Cripps Pink back in the bot- tle so they could present it as Pink Lady," Wilfrid recalled. T h e S u m m e r l a n d V a r i e t i e s Corporation (formerly PICO) has man- aged Ambrosia for the Mennells. The couple obtained Canadian plant breed- ers' rights in 1997. Planting of the variety is not restricted in Canada, but growers pay a Can.$2-a-tree royalty. Those rights expire this year, allowing Canadian growers to buy trees without paying a royalty. Because the name Ambrosia was not registered as a trade- mark, growers are free to use it. U.S. patent The Mennells obtained a U.S. patent in 1999. The royalty is $1 per tree or $1,000 per acre (whichever is the lesser) plus a franchise fee of $1,000 per acre. Several U.S. growers were initially licensed to grow Ambrosia and a number of nurseries had access to the variety. Wilfrid said there was no leadership for the variety in the United States at first. When McDougall received its exclusive license in 2005, the existing U.S. growers were grandfathered in with the number of trees they had in the ground. All but one have their fruit packed at McDougall, which now has about 25 outside grow- ers delivering Ambrosia but produces most of its Ambrosia apples on its own orchards. "We should be packing close to a million boxes this year in our company," McDougall said. "We have great retail response." The U.S. patent for Ambrosia expires in June of 2017 and McDougall's license will expire in 2019, as royalty-free nursery trees become available. In other coun- tries around the world, the variety will be under plant protection until as late as 2034. Michael Bechtel, general manager of Summerland Varieties Corporation, expects to see increasing production of the variety after the plant protections expire, particularly in British Columbia where growers can receive financial incentives for updating their orchards through a provincial replant program. AMBROSIA restrictions to end New Varieties COURTESY OF CMI Ambrosia apples were included in official gift bags at the Academy Awards this year as a promotion. By 2019, Ambrosia will be an open variety in both the United States and Canada. But it won't do well in all locations, growers are warned. by Geraldine Warner "The challenge is, it has a very short harvest picking window, and it requires a rather large labor force to pick the fruit and get it into storage so that it will have the appropriate shelf life." —Scott McDougall

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