Yakima, WA – Opal apples have been making appearances at local events in major cities around the U.S to high consumer acclaim, along with sponsoring blogger conferences and helping fans host their own Opal apple parties.
The focus of the events is to raise awareness of Opal by getting the apple in consumers' hands, along with spreading the word about the Opal Youth Make a Difference Initiative which is currently accepting grant applications for a second season. Anchored by brand ambassadors handing out apples and the colorful Opal apple cart, events have been hosted in Portland, Houston, Boston and Minneapolis with several more events to come.
The Minneapolis and Boston events are co-hosted with Chop Chop Magazine, the cooking magazine for families. These events focus on sampling and demonstrations of simple preparations of Opal apple and ways to get kids involved and interested in healthy foods. Opal and Chop Chop also hosted a party with cooking demonstrations in Minneapolis with about 40 attendees from the local food community.
Opal's partner for 2014, Chop Chop Magazine is a James Beard award-winning quarterly magazine dedicated to reversing and preventing childhood obesity targeted to kids aged 5 to 12 and their families. Chop Chop publisher Sally Sampson has recently written a series of articles for the New York Times parenting blog focusing on helping families work with children who are picky eaters. Sampson loves Opal for not only its taste but also its non-browning properties that are really helpful in dealing with picky-eaters.
In addition to the public events, consumers and bloggers have been hand-selected to host private Opal parties. The Opal parties have been a huge success and are sought after by Opal fans looking to spread the word about Opal apples. Kits contain Opal themed décor, serve ware, recipe cards, an apron, and of course, Opal apples. Opal also has a Pinterest board dedicated to showing fans how to host their own Opal party.
"Opal apple has been a huge success with consumers from the very beginning and these events just continue to affirm that people love these apples," said Keith Mathews, CEO for FirstFruits Marketing, exclusive
distributer of Opal apples. "All we have to do is get people to taste Opal and the apples sell themselves."
Grown in Washington, Opal apples are sold exclusively in North America by FirstFruits Marketing. This cross between Topaz and Golden Delicious stands out on the shelf with its lovely yellow color and great taste. Sweet to start with a tart finish, Opal has a satisfying amount of crunch in each bite. And to the delight of consumers, it is highly resistant to oxidation making it less likely to brown. Available in limited quantities, conventional Opal will likely run through April.
More information about Opal apples can be found at www.opalapples.com.
Source: FirstFruits Marketing
