August means apples and apples remain a North American favorite.
Americans eat 28 pounds of apples per year. In fact, all of North America is crazy for the fruit that has been a dietary staple since at least the 1600s.
In 2019, unlike the previous 175 years, people can now buy a variety of apples. Where grocery stores once carried maybe Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious and Granny Smith, now markets may have a dozen different apples.
Of the 7,000 varieties available, here are the current bestsellers:
Honeycrisp – Released in 1991, the Honeycrisp was the first exception to the Delicious apple's monopoly. Juicy and sweet, the Honeycrisp is a University of Minnesota hybrid of the Keepsake apple and another, unreleased variety.
Fuji – Born in Fujisaka, Japan, the Fuji is a cross-pollination of the Red Delicious and Virginia Ralls Janet. This super-sweet apple stores well, according to Stemilt, a fruit company.
Pink Lady – Sweet and tart with a firm bite, the Pink Lady makes a good addition to salads since it is slow to turn brown after slicing. The Lady comes from Australia where a researcher crossed the Golden Delicious with the Lady Williams apple. The resulting Pink Lady was the first apple to have its name trademarked.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
