Arctic dried apples a winner

Steve MacNaull, 250-470-0767

Amazon.com sells virtually everything and lots of it. That’s why Summerland’s Okanagan Specialty Fruits decided to debut its Arctic ApBitz dried apple snacks on the world’s largest internet retailer in March.

Since then, Arctic ApBitz has caught on and has been named the No. 1 new release by Amazon.com in both the snack and dried-fruit categories.

It’s also been designated an Amazon Choice product due to rave reviews by customers and its highest rating in the dried-apple category.

Okanagan Specialty Fruits is responsible for the Arctic Golden apple, which has gained worldwide attention, praise and controversy for being genetically engineered.

The genetic tampering means the apple doesn’t brown when bitten, sliced or bruised.

That’s made it the ideal apple for Okanagan Specialty Fruits’ little packages of sliced fresh apples that are perfect for both kids’ lunches and adult snacking.

The apples’ attributes mean preservatives aren’t needed for either the fresh or the dried products.

“We decided to make Arctic ApBitz dried apples initially available online via Amazon.com so that everyone in the U.S. would have convenient access to our sweet and crunchable Arctic ApBitz snacks,” said Okanagan Speciality Fruits president Neal Carter.

“One of our core initiatives behind Arctic apples is to help reduce unnecessary food waste. Acknowledging that not all fruit is suitably sized for slicing, we’ve been working on innovative ways to use our non-browning Arctic Goldens from this past harvest to give consumers more ways to eat apples. ApBitz snacks are the result of these efforts and help us in our commitment to sustainability and the ability to maximize the benfiet of our entire crop.”

Okanagan Specialty Fruits has also launched a summer social media contest to create more buzz about Arctic ApBitz.

The #BitzofSummer contest has people taking photos and videos of themselves enjoying ApBitz in summer settings.

Aimed at an American audience, the grand prize is a trip to the Okanagan to enjoy all the Valley has to offer and have dinner with Carter. email: steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca

Special to The Daily Courier Arctic ApBitz from Summerland’s Okanagan Specialty Fruits is the No. 1 new release in both the snack and dried-fruit categories on Amazon.com.

STEVE MacNAULL/The Daily Courier The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce is still located at 544 Highway 97 at Ellis Street. It has space to lease at the front of the premises after Tourism Kelowna moved its Visitors Centre to the downtown waterfront.