Consumer-driven apple breeding and commercialization
OFVC Educational Series, January 25, 2021
By Rachael LeBlanc
At Vineland, apples are being bred with consumers in mind, using a cross-disciplinary approach designed to hit the sweet spot. Vineland’s Consumer Insights team identified key attributes driving consumer liking of apples. Based on this information, a test orchard has been created containing 33,000 unique apple trees. A wide variety of fruit is evaluated annually for characteristics including, but not limited to, size, colour, shape, texture, flavour, juiciness and harvest date.