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cated in nearby Norway.
“Absolutely, this is good news,” said Batesville, Va., apple grower Henry Chiles. “We export at least 20 percent of our crop.”
Altogether, Virginia apple producers export approximately 125,000 42-pound cartons of fresh apples every year, more than onefifth of those to Scandinavian countries, according to Virginia Department of Agriculture official Don Ayers.
The most popular varieties of apples in Europe tend to be Golden Delicious and Jona Gold, said Rich Marini, tree fruit specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech. “They tend to like tarter apples than we do,” he said. “They’re also more impressed by flavor than appearance, whereas U.S. consumers buy with their eyes.”
Mr. Marini said some Red Delicious apples - the number one selling variety in America - also are exported, but not in the numbers or of the size we’re accustomed to. “I think in some cases Europeans take small apples we feel are too small for the U.S. market,” he said.
Clayton Griffin, director of the Virginia State Apple Board, said although the opening up of European markets may be good news for some, others are eyeing the Far East as a bigger potential market. “Last time I talked to some of the folks in Washington State (the number one state in apple production), they didn’t seem real interested,” she said.
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