NEW YORK CITY, NY - Apples are a special category, summoning key memories for shoppers about the fall season. I spoke with Hudson River Fruit Distributor’s Alisha Albinder, to discover the ins and outs of this apple harvest—and how retailers can get in on the apple mania.

“We’re just about halfway through harvesting, and right now we are shipping Cortland, Empire, Gala, Fuji, Ginger Gold, Honeycrisp, Macoun, McIntosh, and SnapDragon®. We’re really getting into the thick of it,” Alisha, Owner/Operator, explained to me. “All of the varieties are coming on strong, and shortly we will be adding Red Delicious, Romes, Pink Lady, and RubyFrost®. For us in the Hudson Valley, the weather was perfect this season, with cool nights and warm days, which gave the fruit a great color and taste this year.”

As Alisha shared with me how beautiful the crop is this year, our conversation turns to higher volumes and why grocers should be on the lookout to push apple sales.

“With so many new varieties in the Marketplace now, it's an exciting time of year for us and the retailers to showcase all of the great apples available. We hope that with so much excitment in the category that it will increase consumer consumption," Alisha remarked. "We are also very excited about this years newly designed Tote bag created by the New York Apple Association. This beautiful new packaging really resonates with consumers, and showcases Apples from New York!”

She also told me about the company’s plans for Snapdragon, a proprietary variety that’s been a rising success. As Hudson River jumps into harvest for Snapdragon, Alisha told me that it expects a 50 percent increase in volume over last year.

All around, exciting news for New York apples!

As we gear up for prime apple season, AndNowUKnow will continue to report on any updates in the category.

Hudson River Fruit