BelleHarvest offers new apples

Smitten is a new “exceptionally great eating apple” available from BelleHarvest Sales Inc., Belding, Mich., says Chris Sandwick, vice president of sales and marketing.

BelleHarvest Sales Inc., Belding, Mich., is offering a couple of new, “exceptionally great-eating apples” this season, said Chris Sandwick, vice president of sales and marketing.

One is the proprietary Smitten variety that also is available from Wenatchee, Wash.-based Pegasus Premier Fruit Co.

“We are partnered with them as a Midwestern representative,” Sandwick said.

BelleHarvest has planted a number of acres of the variety and has programs planned for fall, he said.

The apple, which Sandwick described as “wonderfully sweet, crunchy and juicy,” originated in New Zealand.

It has been available in limited quantities in the past, he said, but, “This will be the first year we can really make a splash with it.”

A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of each box of the variety, which will be available from BelleHarvest from mid-September through Thanksgiving, will go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

“October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so it’s a nice tie-in,” Sandwick said.

Eventually, the Smitten will have a longer season.

Belleharvest also plans to hold onto its EverCrisp variety until December or January, he said.

The EverCrisp is a “great apple that stores well,” he said.

“Fall is a crowded time,” Sandwick added. “It’s a great apple for later in the season.”

Sandwick said he actually considers BelleHarvest to be a snack food company.

“When we can bring food like Smitten and EverCrisp and Honeycrisp and really good galas to the market, we think we can compete head to head with Twinkies and Snickers and Hot Cheetos,” he said. “That’s what motivates us and has us looking for what’s next.”

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