WENATCHEE, WA - This year, it’s all about A Half-Mile Closer to the Moon™ cherries and Rave® apples, two varieties Stemilt Growers pushes later in the season to give itself an edge in the produce aisle. Both offerings are unique in their own ways, and I caught up with Stemilt Growers’ Marketing Director Roger Pepperl to learn more about these summer stand-outs.

“Our A Half-Mile Closer to the Moon cherries are a special cherry that we start packing around August 15th every year. And the reason why we name it A Half-Mile Closer to the Moon is because they actually are a half-mile higher than sea level and higher all the way up to 4,000 feet above sea level, which gives us that advantage of being late,” Roger tells me.

Specifically, the cherries’ growing altitude allows retailers to offer the brand all the way through September. The Rave apple is another later-in-the-season offering from Stemilt and one that Roger highly recommends.

“The Rave apples are a really special apple we’re going to have this year—this is the first big crop year we have. What makes Rave unique is it is picked end of July, beginning of August. It’s got Honeycrisps, and it’s got Monarch—an apple out of Arkansas,” Roger shares. “It will be one of the juiciest apples you’ve ever eaten, and it’ll fracture like a Honeycrisp, and it’s got a really nice attitude to it—a nice flavor that’s different from any apple you’ll eat.”

For the full deets on A Half-Mile Closer to the Moon cherries and Rave apples, watch our exclusive video above.

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Stemilt Growers