Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/681909
34 JUNE 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com The university is offering contracts to any orchardist to purchase the trees and market the fruit under the name Sunrise Magic, paying royalties to the college for each tree and each box sold. Existing growers may continue and even expand their own WA 2 orchards using any name they wish, but new growers would have to use Sunrise Magic, said Jim Moyer, WSU associate dean of research. "There's potential for confusion any way we go," Moyer said. University officials want to establish a precedent for how they introduce new varieties of apples, raspberries or grains, he said, and allowing too much negotia- tion on the WA 2 could undermine that precedent. "We're trying to get all of our commer- cialization in alignment," he said. More than anything, Apple King wants to recruit new growers under the Crimson Delight trademark, said Ray Keller, one of the company's partners. They do not plan to seek their own royalties from new growers or other packers who use the Crimson Delight name, though royalties may become part of the negotiations with WSU, Keller said. "We're willing to compromise," Keller said. He declined to share how much Apple King spent developing the Crimson Delight brand, calling it only "a substan- tial amount." Meanwhile, the confusion is causing some hesitation in the industry. As of February, Washington nurser- ies affiliated with Northwest Nursery Improvement Institute had a supply of WA 2 trees and the ability to sell to any grower in Washington. At least one was advising growers, however, to wait until Apple King and the university finalize their agreement, in spite of sizable interest. "Before your tree goes in the ground, you have to have your marketing strat- egy," said Stacy Gilmore, marketing manager for Cameron Nursery in Eltopia, Washington. How things got here Keller and his company did not invent the name Crimson Delight. The university's breeding program released the WA 2 in 2011, allowing the Washington State Tree Fruit Research Commission, funded directly by growers, to handle the distribution and licensing of the variety. Staff suggested the name Crimson Delight and let 128 growers pur- chase test plots of five trees each. Some growers purchased more than one. Most of them never took the prop- agation any further due to the lack of a marketing plan. The largest grower, who planted 3,300 of the trees, roughly 4 acres worth, grafted them to another variety. "No one had a plan to do anything with it, to commercialize it," said Bruce Barritt, the apple's breeder. He has since retired and been replaced by Kate Evans. In the end, only 24 growers received commercial licenses from the Research Commission, and most of them planted no more trees. At the same time, Research Commission staff were still learning the quirks of the variety, namely that it needs about two weeks at room temperature to "wake the flavor," said Tom Auvil, a commission research horticulturalist. Industry sales and marketing represen- tatives took one bite of what was other- wise a starchy, grainy apple and walked away. It wasn't until later the Research Commission staff realized the potential. "It was a mistake to offer new product to the marketing professionals prior to understanding the variety," Auvil said. "A very severe learning experience." A few growers stuck with the WA 2, however, using the suggested name of Crimson Delight. Some of them are direct marketers, but most of the remaining growers packed through Apple King, which ships them both domestically and internationally. Keller suspects the state has between 100 and 200 acres of WA 2 trees in the ground now, but his few growers have been propagated more. CourTesy aPPle KinG A basket of of WA 2 apples, in the foreground, with the brand of Crimson Delight is displayed in a store in Thailand. ©2016 Meadow Creature, LLC MeadowCreature.Com ® Or Give Us a Call 360-329-2250 MAKE CIDER WITH EASE - - MEADOW CREATURE ® Commercial quality at a family price–the AVALON ®