SweeTango ‘next big thing’

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

The next generation apple sensation is about to hit the market.

Without getting too technical, fruitgrowers are calling the fruit born of the Honeycrisp – the “mom”, and the Zestar – the “dad”; the “next big thing.”

SweeTango is juicy, sweet, crunchy, a blush apple with a deep red colour over a yellow background and a hint of fall spices, as Scotian Gold describes it an advance press kit. The fruitgrowing co-op is laying the groundwork for next fall’s big taste test. “The Honeycrisp is a unique apple – no other apple has had that type of success,” says Rockland orchardist Waldo Walsh. “We have to keep looking, and SweeTango is a good opportunity.”

The new variety comes from Minnesota, where Valley growers found the Honeycrisp trees a few years ago. “We’re recognized as one of the top producing areas as far as quality for the Honeycrisp, and our contacts in Minnesota wanted to give us a chance with this.”

Walsh put in 2,900 of the SweeTango dwarf trees this year, and plans on another 3,700 trees next spring. While his new trees didn’t fruit this fall, other new growers here have had a limited crop from an initial 60 acres: the first three bins of apples from those trees is what Scotian Gold is using to tempt retail buyers in time for next year’s big launch. The co-op expects 100 bins of SweeTango in the 2010 harvest.

Walsh says it’s not that the Honeycrisp is losing PR steam, but the SweeTango is a premium variety that fits grower’s production schedule: it crops between the Gravenstein and the Gala, MacIntosh, Jona Gold and Cortland - even before the coveted Honeycrisp. That’s good news for on-going harvest challenges, including labour demands and market timing.