Red Delicious no longer apple of America’s eye

At their core, Americans have changed – at least when it comes to their apple preferences.

The Red Delicious apple is likely to lose its title as the most popular apple this year, a perch it held for more than half a century.

The U.S. Apple Association is projecting that the Gala apple will usurp the Red Delicious for the top spot.

The group, which advocates on behalf of 7,500 apple growers and 400 companies in the apple business, predicted that the U.S. would grow 52.4 million Gala apples in 2018, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier.

Red Delicious apple production is expected to tumble 10.7 percent to 51.7 million.

Consumers apparently like the Gala’s “taste, texture and sweetness,” the U.S. Apple Association said in a statement.

“The rise in production of newer varieties of apples aimed at the fresh consumption domestic market has caused demand for Red Delicious to decline,” said Mark Seetin, the association’s director of regulatory and industry affairs.

Granny Smith, Fuji and Honeycrisp apples are expected to rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Honeycrisp is surging in popularity, with production rising 21.8 percent to 23.5 million this year. That puts it ahead of the Golden Delicious apple for the first time.

The association predicted that “within a year or two” the Honeycrisp may pass the Granny Smith and Fuji, vaulting into third place.

The Honeycrisp, which was created by the University of Minnesota’s apple breeding program, made its debut only 21 years ago. It typically costs more than its competitors.