Summerland, BRITISH COLUMBIA (November 29, 2018) – Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. (OSF), is gearing up for the company’s second commercial release of nonbrowning Arctic® apples. Since the first-ever launch of Arctic apples in select U.S. grocery retailers following last year’s fall harvest, OSF has significantly expanded its orchards and scaled up production to increase availability and product options to U.S. customers.
“This year we’re looking forward to giving shoppers even more options when it comes to providing convenient, healthy snacks for their families to enjoy,” explains Jennifer Armen, Vice President of OSF. “In 2017, Arctic apples were introduced to the market as Arctic® Golden fresh slices. This year, Arctic® Goldens will also be available as whole apples, along with our Arctic ApBitz™ dried apple snacks, which we successfully launched through Amazon earlier this year. We’re also looking forward to introducing our newest nonbrowning variety, Arctic® Grannys.”
Arctic apples offer significant benefits related to apple consumption and unnecessary food waste. Too often, apples are thrown out after they have turned brown from being bruised, sliced, or bitten. The potential to reduce waste benefits every sector of the supply chain. Nonbrowning Arctic apples are proudly developed through biotechnology by turning off the enzyme responsible for browning.
“This year’s harvest yielded about 10 times the fruit volume as last year’s, and the availability of Arctic apples will continue to increase year over year as we continue to plant more trees and they mature. In addition to our Arctic® Goldens and Arctic® Grannys, we planted our first commercial Arctic® Fujis this year,” says Neal Carter, President of OSF. “We are also developing our own fruit receiving, storage, processing, packing and shipping facility. We hope to have enough volume after the 2019 fall harvest to introduce delicious Arctic apples to Canadians as well.”
About Okanagan Specialty Fruits & Arctic Apples
Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF) is a vertically integrated company specializing in the development, growing, processing, and marketing of novel tree fruit varieties developed through bioengineering. Based in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, OSF was founded in 1996 and acquired by an affiliate of Third Security, LLC in 2020. OSF’s flagship product is its Arctic apple varieties. Arctic apples provide a sustainable solution to less food waste and improved apple consumption. For consumer information, visit www.arcticapples.com; for company information and partnership opportunities, visit www.osfruits.com.
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