GMO apples test marketed in U.S.
Genetically modified apples, developed in the Okanagan, will soon be sold for the first time in the U.S.
But it will still be a few years before Arctic brand apples are likely to show up at Canadian stores.
“Our goal right now is to learn as much as we can from this test marketing exercise in the U.S.,” Neal Carter, the founder of Okanagan Specialty Fruits in Summerland, said Monday.
“We’ve gone through all the logistics to get the product ready for market, and we’re excited to bring it to consumers and let them have a look,” Carter said.
Arctic apples, which don’t brown after being bitten, bruised, or sliced, have been well received at trade shows in the U.S., Carter said.
“We’ve had many comments that they were the best-tasting apples at the shows,” Carter said. “Very, very rarely have we had someone who won’t eat an Arctic apple because it’s genetically modified.”
Carter developed a way to modify the gene that controls the apple’s browning after the flesh is pierced. Arctic apples were approved for sale in both Canada and the U.S. by regulators in 2015.
The first shipment of Arctic branded apples to market in February will be small, consisting of packaged fruit slices to 10 retailers in the U.S. Midwest. Wider distribution of Arctic apples is expected to take place in the U.S. this fall.
“With the limited amount of fruit we have available right now, we’re not quite ready for the national retail market,” Carter said.
The genetically modified apples are currently grown only in Washington state orchards owned by the company. Carter said a decision hasn’t been made yet whether to grow Arctic apples in Canada or bring the product into this country from the U.S.
In either event, he said, it will likely be “a couple years” before Arctic branded apple varieties appear in Canadian stores.
After the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the Arctic apple for sale, Okanagan Specialty Fruits was purchased by an American company, Intrexon, for $31 million in Intrexon stock and $10 million cash.