Earl McGrath, Freshfields’ Director of Produce Operations with a ripe Envy™ Apple tree (in Hawkes Bay)

Earl McGrath, Director of Produce Operations recently had the pleasure of visiting several of our produce suppliers in New Zealand.  The Oppenheimer group, a distribution arm for Enza Company’s Jazz™ Apples, Envy™ Apples, Taylor’s Gold Pears, and Zespri® Kiwifruit in the U.S., gave us a Farm-peak into some of these harvest-ready orchard farms.

Harvest Picking! Beautiful orchard of sweet Envy™ Apples in Nelson.

What makes Envy™ Apples so special? Grown in New Zealand, these high density apples are packed full of sweet crunch! We like to refer to both Jazz™ and Envy™ as ‘children’ of the Braeburn and Gala apples (similar genes!).

The size and weight of an Envy™ Apple is larger than most apples, adding to attractive nature. Active hand-picking of these blush beauties (hints the envy) only happens a few weeks a year at the end of apple harvesting season, making them a seasonal specialty native to New Zealand. Look for them at our Farm in the coming weeks!

Zespri® SunGold Kiwifruit in Nelson, New Zealand, just a week out from picking. Look for them at the Farm soon!

See to the left, the ready-to-pick Envy™ Apple tree–can you tell that the tree is bending at the weight of those delicious apples?

In Nelson, New Zealand, McGrath traveled to a kiwifruit orchard. Just one short week before picking, he witnessed the postcard-worthy golden fruit before it hits our shelves. The canopy of leaves, reaching to about 5 feet soaks up the sunlight to hide the true golden prize below, the SunGold® Kiwifruit.

Thanks to YOU, Freshfields Farm sold the most Taylor’s Gold pears in the WORLD per store for 2013 and 2014. That’s a whole lotta pears! Let’s make it a three-peat!