The Search for the Next Honeycrisp Apple – Bloomberg

“There are so many apples that are just as good or better,” says Tom Maynard of Maynard Farms in Ulster Park, N.Y., who has pick-your-own orchards in the Hudson Valley and brings his produce to McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y., on the weekends. “A Honeycrisp is sweet, crunchy, juicy—and that’s the end. I grow them for consumers. I was never a fan.”

Among the varieties Maynard champions is the Evercrisp, which now outsell his Honeycrisps, even though he’s priced them the same at $2.20 a pound. Honeycrisps typically sell for $1.50 a pound more than other apples.

“Almost everyone who tastes it prefers it over Honeycrisp, it has more varietal flavor,” says Maynard, who sees a demand for apples with more edge and character. “In my markets, people want more tartness, sharpness, more punch.”

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