SweeTango Apple Crop Expected to Triple in 2011
The highly anticipated Honeycrisp offspring will be widely available at select grocers, farm markets and online beginning September
LAKE CITY, Minn., May 23, 2011 –– Excitement has been building for new SweeTango® apples and early crop predictions indicate there will be a lot to bite into this fall – possibly three times as much as 2010. A cross between Honeycrisp™ and Zestar!™ varieties, SweeTango® began gracing store shelves in very limited quantities in 2009.
SweeTango is an early season apple so apple lovers should start seeing them in September 2011. SweeTango®’s satisfying crunch and complex flavor deliver a superior apple-eating experience. Both sweet and tart with hints of fall spices, SweeTango®’s flavor, balanced by vibrant acidity, dances to a long and satisfying finish on the palate.
The same apple breeders who gave us the Honeycrisp released SweeTango® after more than a decade in development. The new apple is grown and marketed by Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative – a unique partnership of some of the most respected family-owned orchards in North America.
“As with any new variety, the volume of apples produced in the early years can be a bit unpredictable,” said Dennis Courtier, director of Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative. “The trees are still young, but they have matured to a point where we are able to expand distribution nationally.”
“SweeTango® is unlike anything most people have ever tasted and we’re happy that more apple lovers across the country will be able to enjoy it this year,” adds Courtier.
Apples like SweeTango don’t come along very often, said David Bedford, University of Minnesota apple breeder and a key contributor in the development of SweeTango®, Honeycrisp and Zestar!
“It can take 30 years and 10,000 attempts to find a great-tasting apple,” Bedford said. “Consumers who have tried SweeTango® are telling us we’ve found something special with this new apple, specifically citing its complex flavor combination as a key attribute that sets this apple-eating experience apart from any other.”
The name SweeTango® was chosen to reflect the harmonious flavor combination you experience upon first bite. The distinctive crispness and complex flavors of the apple promise to make it an immediate consumer favorite.
Harvested early in the growing season, SweeTango® is a managed apple variety, which means only licensed growers can produce the fruit. Beginning this fall, apple lovers can purchase SweeTango® online at www.sweetango.com. The website, and Facebook and Twitter pages, also will have updated information on where consumers can find this great new apple in their area.
About Next Big Thing
Headquartered in Lake City, Minn., Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative is a 45-member cooperative of family growers, spread over five time zones from Nova Scotia to Washington State, that will grow and market managed varieties of apples, beginning with SweeTango®. You can find more information on SweeTango® at www.sweetango.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sweetango. Also follow @SweeTango on Twitter.
About the U of M Apple Breeding Program
In 1908 the University of Minnesota created the Fruit Breeding Farm, now known as the Horticultural Research Center, on 80 acres near Victoria, Minn. Over the next century the farm grew to become the center of fruit research and breeding, particularly for northern climates. Apple varieties that have been named and released by the University include Fireside, Haralson, Honeygold and, more recently, Honeycrisp™ and Zestar!™
*SweeTango is a registered trademark of the University of Minnesota for fruit of the Minneiska cultivar