A long process: Finding the next popular apple variety takes time tenacity

KENNEWICK — For all the research, all the focus groups, all the test marketing, it is the consumer who ultimately decides the success of something new or different. That’s as true in the tree fruit industry as anywhere else - the apple variety that was the queen of the orchard in 1967, or 1997 or 2017, might have a fraction of market share today. Or maybe it’s not on the market at all.