The Wake

A few years ago, actress Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple. If only the naming of actual apples was so simple.

“Naming an apple is worse than naming a kid,” Dr. James Luby says, professor of plant genetics and director of the fruit breeding program at the Horticultural Research Center, a division of the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. “It’s okay if there are two or three Emilys in the class, but no two apples in the world can have the same name.”

Possibly because the University of Minnesota’s team of apple namers are creatively exhausted after coming up with names for their most recent apple releases, the SnowSweet™, Zestar!® and Honeycrisp™, the Arboretum has called on the public for the first time ever to name their most recent apple release, for now known as the MN 447.

The 447 is not, in fact, a new apple. It is actually one of the older apples developed at the U of M. “It’s been sitting around for a while,” Dr. Luby says.

The 447 was developed some 60 years ago but due to its unique, and to some, unappealing taste, it was never released. However, the apple’s unusual cold hardiness—it can thrive in northern Minnesota where very few good quality apples can grow—as well its unique flavor, make the 447 an excellent apple to cross with other apple varieties. The 447 is a parent to the Keepsake and Sweet 16 apples, and a grandparent to the most popular apple in Minnesota, the Honeycrisp.

The Arboretum hosted an apple-tasting event on October 6 and 7, and will be accepting name submissions through the end of October. “We’ve already received 4,000 entries,” Dr. Luby says.

For those not creative enough to come up with a name, the contest entry form also provides a list of names to choose from such as Tropical Blizzard, Arctic Blast, Polar Picnic, Northern Nugget, Iceberg, and Borealis. The winner of the naming contest will receive a basket of 447 apples and “a certificate for bragging rights.”

For its small size—a full-grown 447 is only about 2 ½ inches in diameter—the apple packs a punch. It is “not for the faint of heart” warns the naming contest entry form; certainly, it tastes like no other apple sold in Minnesota. It’s very sweet, and fairly juicy, like biting into a piece of sugarcane. It has also been described as reminiscent of Hawaiian Punch and pineapple.

“I’ve never tasted an apple quite like this before,” Freshman Marija Majerle says, who was not present at the apple tasting but was able to taste a sample of the apple provided to The Wake. “It’s almost tangy, but still very sweet and delicious….It’s a winner.”

This taste doesn’t appeal to everyone; the 447 usually does terribly in taste tests, with only one or two out of twenty giving it high marks. “Some like it, but a lot don’t…it has such a strong, different flavor,” Dr. Luby says.

It may seem stupid to even bother releasing an apple that appeals to so few people, but the arboretum isn’t looking for another hit like the Honeycrisp. The apple will likely be more expensive than others due to its small size, which drives up the price because more time has to be spent on picking, Dr. Luby says. Along with its small size, the 447 also has a relatively short shelf life and has a tendency to get russeting (cracks around the top of the apple), which can let wasps and other pests in while the apple is growing in the orchard. This also makes the apple susceptible to mold when it’s stored. All of these factors combine to make large-scale production of the 447 impractical. Rather, the arboretum is trying to appeal to a niche market of consumers eager to diversify their apple diets.

“Consumers are more interested in variety in their food now,” Dr. Luby says. “People are used to new apples coming out. When I was growing up, all we had was Red Delicious and Granny Smith, but now there’s tons of variety.”

“I would buy a bag and eat them quite often,” Majerle says. Unfortunately for Majerle and others who enjoyed the apple, about half of the world’s supply of 447 was consumed during the apple tasting. The apple is still years away from being commercially available, and even then it will not sold for 99 cents per pound at Cub Foods.