March 2019 - 6

COSMIC
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
for the fruit of WA 38, a cultivar
developed by WSU. Traits bred into
the cultivar for the growers' sakes are
resistance to some diseases, an ability
to store well and a long, two-week
harvest window. The apple will be
marketed to consumers as sweet, crisp,
slow to brown and exceptionally red.
Not all university-developed
LE,
UL
S.
ERS
1 9
cultivars are tied to brand names.
WSU's first commercial release, WA2,
didn't have a brand name when it
was given to growers in 2011, and
university officials at first took a
hands-off approach to marketing
efforts. The apple was sold by some
in the industry as " Crimson Delight. "
In February 2016, WSU, re-released it
with the brand name " Sunrise Magic "
but overall the cultivar has languished.
WA 2 taught WSU a lesson, said
h
t
e
t
i
e
WSU Business Development Specialist
Albert Tsui.
" We learned that the (intellectual
property) owner needs to dictate what
the brand may be, " he said.
That's the reason for having a brand
learn more at cosmiccrisp.com
EASY
SNACKING
DELICIOUS
BAKING
BEAUTIFUL
ENTERTAINING
Creative materials marketing Cosmic Crisp will focus on the theme " Imagine the Possibilities. "
Photos: PVM
name. " Cosmic " is reference to the
star-burst spots on the apple skin;
Crisp is a nod to the Midwestern hit
apple Honeycrisp, which shares the
parentage of WA 38 with Enterprise.
But the reason for a marketing
budget is more of a response to what
the growers themselves have invested.
A simple " back of the envelope "
calculation shows growers themselves
have millions invested in WA 38, Tsui
said. It's not uncommon for a grower
to spend $40,000 per acre setting up an
orchard. Multiply that by 5,800 acres
planted and you get $232 million.
In that light, $10.1 million doesn't
seem like such a bad investment.
" That's really a response to the
stakeholder investment in the new variety,
and the idea that we need to launch this
so that the growers and stakeholders
along the whole chain get a fair shake
out of that, " Tsui said. " It's actually really
small potatoes in comparison to what the
growers have invested in terms of acreage
and plantings. "
And it may not require investment
for WSU, either. Royalty revenue
received from licensing WSU's
intellectual property rights to
WA 38, and the trademark rights to
Cosmic Crisp brand, will be used to
pay for the campaign. Tsui said WSU's
biggest royalty returns always come
from the agriculture college. Cosmic
Crisp is eclipsing the wheat royalties
that have brought in more than $1
million a year, he said. Fifty percent
of anything above costs goes back into
the apple breeding program; Tsui said
the other 50 percent is split up per
rules in the faculty handbook - some
would go to the WA 38's breeders,
Bruce Barritt and Kate Evans.
Washington state growers had
HARD CIDER NURSERY VARIETIES
ORDER NOW
for 2020 and 2021
2019 stock is going fast
ORDER SOON!
6 | FruitGrowersNews.com
469-751-TREE(8733)
ALL HCS TREES GROWN ON G.41 ROOTSTOCKS
www.her i tagecidersupply.com
I
o
m
P s
s
a
e i
b
i
g
!
i l i
n
s

http://www.cosmiccrisp.com http://www.her http://www.tagecidersupply.com http://www.FruitGrowersNews.com

March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2019