News Archive

After a lifetime of growing and promoting a multitude of apple varieties, US nurseryman Lynnell Brandt believes it is time to create an apple super-brand. Read the full article in the April 2020 issue of The Orchardist

Though Cosmic Crisp has been in development for over 20 years, growers are adjusting to growing this apple in their orchards and taking extra steps to protect their investment. Northwest Public Broadcasting Interviews Cosmic Crisp® Growers  

AP reporters venture into apple orchards in the Yakima Valley during the 2019 harvest to see for themselves what the Cosmic Crisp® is all about. The article in the Chicago Tribune can be found here:   Cosmic Crisp® Apple Debut  

Cosmic Crisp® Apples have a group of supporters including an astronaut, a chef, a teacher, a blogger, and a produce industry spokeswoman who will help build engagement and brand awareness. Read the full article in The Packer

The Cosmic Crisp® has been featured in the popular California Sunday Magazine, with a distribution of roughly 300,000 readers of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.  The July 2019 issue goes into detail, covering the history and importance of the...

“Johnny Appleseed” is the first MCT touring show to have a national sponsor, according to Foundations/Corporations Director Naomi Lichtenberg, and it’s a juicy one. A marketing agency promoting the Cosmic Crisp® apple, a new variety engineered at Washington State...

Many breeders around the world have been trying for years to develop apples with sweet red flesh, pigmented, like red apple skin, with antioxidant-rich chemicals called anthocyanins. Such varieties would be novel and attractive, the breeders hope, and could be touted...

Washington State University has a lot to brag about but recently President Kirk Schulz highlighted the school’s development of the Cosmic Crisp® apple. Schulz cited the apple as a positive economic force for the state. The apple variety is perhaps going to be one of...

Promotion of proprietary apple varieties overseas is the Washington Apple Commission’s newest efforts to meet retailer and consumer needs. It’s a balancing act promoting exciting new varieties while still keeping demand up for Reds and Galas. While Cosmic Crisp®’s...

Pruning, training, and managing the WA 38 also known as the brand name Cosmic Crisp® is a major part of how Washington State University is working to make the new variety successful. It’s been a learning experience for the experts too, who have had their share of hits...

In pursuit of the next apple variety, Cosmic Crisp® proves to be harvesting demand. It’s a process and anticipation for Cosmic Crisp®  isn’t an accident. New apple varieties mean new ways to infiltrate the market and there’s a science to it. Taste isn’t the only...

Scientists at Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission are working to develop a starch scale for the new Washington State University-bred apple variety WA 38, to be marketed and sold under the brand name Cosmic Crisp®. Shannon Dininny, of Good Fruit Grower Magazine,...

Wait and see is no longer the motto for growers, instead large demand has growers working on ambitious production plans. Production is increasing and not a lot of other produce categories can say the same. The Cosmic Crisp® variety is a new apple that’s really taking...

Cosmic Crisp® has far fewer storage challenges than the rest of the apple market. Compared to other varieties, Cosmic Crisp® isn’t dealing with the typical forty percent losses in storage. It’s a science and Cosmic Crisp® growers have science on their side thanks to...

Technology has changed the game of protecting intellectual property and managing apple varieties. Growers can now use computers to track trees, production and sales through the entire growing and production process. Cosmic Crisp® is in the hands of Washington growers...

Kevin Brandt, the vice president of Proprietary Variety Management shared that Cosmic Crisp® is looking for grants and additional funding due to the predicted big rollout. Competitors have become friends in order to prepare for the success of the Cosmic Crisp®. The...

The Great Lakes Expo hosted various experts and industry leaders to talk about the things that keep growers up at night. Think pests, labor issues, and water usage. Outside of the general grower concerns and Michigan-centric topics, Cosmic Crisp® was presented as a...

Consistency and technology were the biggest points made during the second day of the Hort Show. Bloom targets, honeybee foraging models, and pruning plans were voiced as a way to obtain and gain success through consistent crops. Another major key point was to think of...

On Day 1 of the Hort Show, Cosmic Cris ® took center stage during discussion about specialized varieties. Lynnell and Kevin Brandt shared exciting Cosmic Crisp numbers such as nurseries having 5.8 million trees ready for planting in 2018. Lynnell also told growers...

Washington has imported most of the apple breeds they grow. Red Delicious from Iowa, Golden Delicious from West Virginia, Gala from New Zealand, Grammy Smith from Australia, Fuji from Japan, and Honeycrisp from Minnesota. Better commercial apples have been a goal for...

Honeycrisp has set an industry example that shoppers want the best and most exclusive varieties. This makes Cosmic Crisp® worth the gamble and “almost a mandatory industry development.” The demand is real and Cosmic Crisp® is expected to hit the public market in 2020....

Cosmic Crisp hit the screen with a spot on CBS Sunday Morning. With special correspondent, Mo Rocca, describing the apple’s “sparkling, rosy cheeks, the Cosmic Crisp is pomological royalty.” He even ponders if Johnny Appleseed would approve of the new apple. Watch the...

Washington apple growers are pinning big hopes on the Cosmic Crisp, having already planted 630,000 apple trees this spring. There will be an estimated 10 million more planted over the next two years. Read the original article in Capital Press, “Growers pin big hopes...

Washington State University researchers recently shared their perspectives on growing the new Cosmic Crisp® apple variety at a field day south of Wenatchee. Those tips include that Mechanical pruning works well on Cosmic Crisp apple trees by the fourth year and...

Washington State University made 300,000 Cosmic Crisp® apple trees available to growers this year, and the growers of these trees were picked through a random drawing. Growers who missed out on the lottery drawing will be able to purchase tree stock through WSU...

In a rich, photographic article, NPR covers how Cosmic Crisp is poised to be the fastest launch of a new apple variety in history.

Cosmic Crisp apples were recently featured in a Daily Record News article that discussed how hay fields in Kittitas are being bought and replanted with orchards.

It is the time of year consumers eagerly await the arrival of a fresh apple crop from Washington state. "Consumers are initially attracted to their bright, bold coloring and unique names," says Chuck Sinks, president of sales and marketing for Sage Fruit Company in...

There is growing demand for Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala, and the highly anticipated Cosmic Crisp® variety. In fact, more growers are integrating “club” or trademarked apple varieties into their crop mixes because consumers are demanding them. Growth is especially vibrant...

We're just a couple of weeks away from a new crop of apples; growers in the Yakima Valley of eastern Washington, whose 175,000 acres of orchards produce some 10% of the nation's apples, are expecting to pick about 130 million boxes this year. All they need is a few...

A free Intellectual Property Washington Summit for growers will be held Sept. 21 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Yakima, Washington. The event will feature presentations by Proprietary Variety Management, a patent attorney, a trademark attorney, an expert on product...

Washington state is positioned to be the leader in organic apples for 2017. Lindsey Huber, international marketing specialist with the Washington Apple Commission, based in Wenatchee, WA, said production is on the rise and may make up as much as 15 percent of total...

After 30 years, Washington state apple growers about to launch the biggest release of a new apple variety…ever. The Cosmic Crisp® will start appearing in Washington state orchards, with up to 12 million trees to be planted by 2020 and the first harvest in 2019. The...

Washington state will likely be the leader in organic apples in 2017. Approximately 10.8 million bushels of organic apples were harvested in the 2016-17 apple season, and estimates call for 13 million bushels this year. In conjunction with growing demand for organic...

Join WSU for a fall field day discussing horticulture and tips to optimize fruit quality of WA 38, WSU’s newest breeding program release. With more than 637,224 WA 38 trees in the ground already, WSU and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission are working hard...

Washington State is ready to take the market lead for organic apples for 2017. Experts say that production has grown so much that Washington may have as much as fifteen percent of the total crop volume. Growers in Washington have the benefit of climate paired with the...

Returning recently from the Forbes AgTech Summit, the workshops made me think about innovations and how those developments will shape the future of the produce industry. Automation in the field, new hybrid electric technology for trucks, the Internet of things and...

Washington’s apple industry enters a new world this year as growers plant the first of what, in just three short years, will be 11 million trees or more of the popular new variety, Cosmic Crisp. If all goes as planned, production from those trees will eclipse the...

When it comes to grading standards for the new Washington State University apple variety Cosmic Crisp, Washington’s industry is already charting new territory. Usually, grade standards for varieties are set by state statute, with input from the industry. Once those...

The Washington state apple industry is re-inventing the way it does business. The industry is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a radically different strategy for introducing a new variety of apple, the Cosmic Crisp. A cross between the Enterprise and the...

The first commercial trees were planted this spring of the new apple variety WA 38, following nearly a decade of research into the horticultural traits at four research plantings and the storage behavior of the fruit. Developed by Washington State University and...

Washington apple growers planted 630,000 new Cosmic Crisp apple trees this spring and will plant an estimated 10 million more trees over the next two years to revolutionize variety offerings of the nation’s largest apple-producing state. MANSON, Wash. — Chris Anderson...

Apple orchards continue to expand in Kittitas County as fruit companies buy hay fields and replant them with new, and never before seen, varieties of fruit. A big reason for the change is because of the weather conditions in Kittitas County, which are milder than...

Apple growers in Washington state, who dominate American apple production, are starting to plant a new kind of apple. It's the fastest launch of a new variety in history. These farmers have been looking for a new variety to grow. Older types of apples, like Red...

Cosmic Crisp has been a huge topic among growers for years, and now the variety is gaining profile in the general media. National Public Radio sent a reporter to Wenatchee, Washington, to interview growers and researchers about the apple. That’s helpful for Washington...

The Cosmic Crisp, named for the yellow star-like specks that dot its deep red skin, has become extremely popular with growers in Washington, who have already planted upwards of 12 million Cosmic Crisp apple trees across the state, reports NPR. In fact, Washington...

The trees are in bloom, the bees are hard at work, and the smell of spring is in the air. The Superfresh Growers® team joined Dave Gleason, Chief Horticulturist, in one of the newer Eastern Washington orchard blocks to learn about the latest orchard happenings. The...

Jeannie Yandel speaks with NPR food reporter Dan Charles about a new apple variety coming to Washington state known as the Cosmic Crisp. Washington grows 70 percent of the apples in the United States, and Red Delicious is the largest single variety grown in the state....

There’s a new apple on the horizon, and it goes by the name of Cosmic Crisp. The apple, previously referred to as WA 38, took center stage at the International Fruit Tree Association’s (IFTA) Annual Conference in the variety’s home state of Washington in February. The...

Proprietary Variety Management recently shipped apples to the 2017 Legislative Reception in Olympia, WA on January 16th where several Washington State grown foods, including Cosmic Crisp™ brand apples, which were a big hit! There were about 40 guests who sampled a...

YAKIMA, WA - As we inch ever closer to the end of winter and the warm weather of spring, AndNowUKnow was more than ready to hear the latest Washington orchard update from the ever-delightful Dave Gleason, Chief Horticulturist for Domex Superfresh Growers®. Mother...

Proprietary Variety Management (PVM) president Lynnell Brandt says limitations on certified budwood are the reason Cosmic Crisp apples haven’t been planted too extensively to date, but virtually all of Washington State’s leading growers are on board with the cultivar...

On day two of the 2016 Washington State Tree Fruit Association Annual Meeting & Horticulture Expo, KOHO’s Chris Hansen had a chance to catch up with the scientist who is largely responsible for the genesis of the new apple variety Cosmic Crisp. Kate Evans is a...

Washington growers will begin the first plantings of the new Washington State University variety WA 38, which will be known commercially as Cosmic Crisp. More than 600,000 trees are expected to be planted this spring, but orders for 2018 exceed 5.1 million trees....

Some Washington Producers Are Caught Off Guard By International Propagation Plans For WA 38. The first Cosmic Crisp international licenses have been signed and the first budwood has been shipped overseas. Last year, Proprietary Variety Management shipped buds of the...

Washington Beefs Up Education Ahead Of Plantings Of New Variety. We’re getting close. Washington growers will plant the first commercial trees for the much-anticipated Cosmic Crisp apple in the spring. To keep up with the excitement, organizers of this month’s...

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Jim McFerson, director of the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, will give the 37th annual Batjer Address, titled, “Technology Road Map 2.0,” at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association’s annual meeting, Dec. 5....

The leaves are changing colors, the air is beginning to have a distinct, cool nip and everywhere I go, I can’t seem to get the ever-present bushels of apples off my mind. Of course, you can get apples year round, but there is truly no better time to bite into a fresh,...

ROCK ISLAND, Wash. — As growers plant the new Cosmic Crisp apple variety for the first time next spring, they need to think about what type of tree structure will be best-suited for robotic apple picking, a research scientist says. “Cosmic Crisp should work great for...

Researchers continue to educate growers about the ins and outs of growing the new Washington State University apple variety Cosmic Crisp™. Among other tips, researchers are advising growers to avoid Manchurian crab apple pollenizers, and to use covers and overhead...

YAKIMA, Wash. — The countdown to takeoff for Cosmic Crisp has begun. Though commercial planting of trees won’t begin until next year and the apple be available to consumers until 2020, shipments of the variety could approach 5 million cartons by 2022. Cristy Warnock,...

EPHRATA, Wash. — Ricardo Santacruz stoops over a small rootstock tree and slices a notch in its trunk a few inches above the ground so fast that if you blink you’ll miss it. With equal speed he slices a bud from a short chunk of Cosmic Crisp apple limb from a bundle...