Honeycrisp and SweeTango – Apple Breeding, Branding, and Trademarking

http://discover.umn.edu/news/food-agriculture/apple-breeding-program-continues-shine

by dpflan • 11 years ago

13 6 11 years ago

discover.umn.edu

dpflan3• 11 years ago

Also, here is a Planet Money episode about this: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/05/27/410085320/episo...

I grew up in MN and always loved Honeycrisp, but after relocating I was surprised to hear people describe them as tasteless or mealy. It turns out they vary a lot depending on growing region. Cold hardy apples produce very different fruit in warmer climates. I have heard this is a big part of why the SweeTango brand has been limited to a small number of growers in select regions.

Minor correction for the title: "SweeTango" has just one 'T' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SweeTango)

dpflan3• 11 years ago

Thanks for pointing out the typo - I've fixed the title now!

dpflan3• 11 years ago

I think the idea of keeping apples to their proper growing climate is a crucial point: these new tasty apple discoveries occur in the UMN orchard, and once selected, a branded apple really will do well on the market if its quantity is constrained and only grown by a few farmers. So, with the UMN orchard as ground zero for the apple discoveries, it would seem that farmers nearer to the orchard have a huge advantage with regard to actually taking an apple from lab orchard to farm to market.

Tainting the identity of the Honeycrisp for example because it was grown in the wrong climate would be something any farmer growing Honeycrisps would want to prevent, else risk the bad impression and lower sales.

colinbartlett• 11 years ago

Honeycrisp are easily the best apples I've ever tasted.

Which makes me wonder how we ate so many Red Delicious when I was a kid, because they taste -- as the article said -- like sawdust.

specialist• 11 years ago

The Red Delicious of your youth was probably a lot better. I loved Golden Delicious, but now can barely stomach them.

I don't understand how a cultivar degrades over time. A buddy of mine comes from an apple growing family. He explained the decline to me, which I barely understood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Delicious

Plus the best of the bunch get exported, so we're eating the rejects.

Honeycrisp and SweeTango – Apple Breeding, Branding, and Trademarking

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