Cosmic Crisp, the new apple variety developed by Washington State University as WA 38, will be part of a partnership with two refrigerated product companies: Crunch Pak, the sliced apple specialist, and Litehouse, known for its refrigerated salad dressings and innovative consumer packaged goods.
According to a news release from Proprietary Variety Management, the company contracted to launch the apple variety, Crunch Pak will be the exclusive producer of Cosmic Crisp branded sliced apple pouches and Litehouse will offer Cosmic Crisp branded cider in jugs. Both products will be available in December when the apple comes to market after this year’s harvest.
“Cosmic Crisp’s firm, crisp texture and sweet-tart flavor profile make it an ideal eating and slicing apple,” said Ozgur Koc, senior vice president of business and product development at Crunch Pak. “Our goal is to provide shoppers with an excellent eating experience. Having the exclusive rights to new varieties with complex flavor profiles helps us meet that goal and keep the category fresh.”
Cosmic Crisp fresh-cut apple pouches will be previewed at United Fresh 2019 in Chicago, Illinois, in June and sampled at PMA Fresh Summit in Anaheim, California, in October, followed by a December retail rollout.
Crunch Pak creates more than one billion apple slices annually at processing plants in Cashmere, Washington, and in New Jersey.
Litehouse, which already produces other apple cider varietals, will add cold-pressed Cosmic Crisp cider to its portfolio as soon as the apple launches in December.
“We are excited to partner with Cosmic Crisp to create a new varietal offering,” said Theresa Lindholm, brand manager at Litehouse. “The juice is light in color, but it packs a bold, fresh flavor that has irresistible sweet and tart notes, and is unlike any of our other ciders. It will be the perfect addition to our existing cider offering.”
Litehouse Inc. was founded in Hope, Idaho, by the Hawkins family in 1963 and is proud to be a 100 percent employee-owned company with five U.S. facilities based in Idaho, Michigan and Utah.
—by Jonelle Mejica
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