Wenatchee, WA – CMI, one of Washington State’s largest grower/shippers of premium quality conventional and organic apples, pears and cherries, announces their import season for the exotic KIKU® apple variety has begun. Customers can now enjoy imported KIKU® while they last; and will then have to wait until the new domestic crop is available next fall.
U.S. Demand for the KIKU® apple continues to grow each year that it has been in production since 2008. CMI Vice President of Marketing, Bob Mast commented on the growing program, “It has been exciting to watch both our production of the KIKU® grow as well as the loyal following we are seeing from consumers. We contribute a great deal of our success to our retail partners who are sharing the KIKU® apple in demos at their stores and allowing people to see for themselves that this quite possibly may be the sweetest apple they have ever tasted.”
New packaging with the flavor profile for the KIKU® apple has supported the growing following and distribution for this apple. CMI released a new two pound grab and go pouch bag this last season that came with smaller snack size apples. This smaller 2 pound bag enables consumers to try the KIKU® without the sticker shock as the bags can be retailed at comparable prices for three pound bags of conventional fruit. With the success of this pouch for retailers, these two pound pouches will be available for the imported KIKU® program.
Though this is a limited production apple and is not available all year. CMI growers as well as many other growers around the World that are part of the KIKU global program are continuing to expand their orchards and yield will continue to increase each year. These expansion efforts, along with their partnership with New Zealand KIKU® growers allows retailers to extend their profits later into the season and consumers to be able to enjoy fresh KIKU® apples further into the year.
About the KIKU®
In 1990 Luis Braun, an Italian fruit grower, was traveling through Japan when he discovered a branch in an orchard with apples with an attractive coloring and a particularly sweet and pleasant taste. This unique branch that Mother Nature graced us with lead to the development of the KIKU® apple in Italy. Now KIKU® apples are proudly grown in the U.S.A. by a select group of some of the finest farmers around the Globe.
The KIKU® apple is very exotic, with a super sweet taste, attractive ruby-red color, crunchy firm flesh, and is very juicy. KIKU® apples stand out from the crowd: they look beautiful and have a striped, ruby-red coloring over a large amount of the fruit. These features all have a positive effect on your senses as you enjoy a KIKU® apple. The KIKU® apple is great as a snack, for use in salads and many other various uses for cooking.
Source: Columbia Marketing International (CMI)
