Washington apple crop 1 of largest in history
Move over, Honeycrisp: Washington-bred apple to debut at grocery stores
They call it the Cosmic Crisp. It's not a video game, a superhero or the title of a Grateful Dead song. It's a new variety of apple, coming to a grocery store near you Dec. 1. Cosmic Crisp is the first apple ever bred in Washington state, which grows the majority of the United States' apples. It's expected to be a game changer.
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — This year's Washington apple crop is one of the largest in history.
The Washington State Tree Fruit Association estimates the crop at 138.2 million 40-pound boxes.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that figure is well above the 116.7 million boxes harvested a year ago. But this year's crop is smaller than the record 141.8 million boxes of 2014.
The association says the harvest is nearly complete statewide. The crop estimate only includes apples expected to be sold fresh, rather than sent to a processor for conversion into juice or applesauce.
Gala was the top variety, making up 23.5% of the overall Washington crop. Red Delicious was No. 2 at 19.7%.