It Takes Retailers, Fans to SweeTango

With the crop of new SweeTango variety of apples poised to triple this year over last, apple enthusiasts will have three times as many reasons to visit sweetango.com to register for a chance to win “An Apple A Day, The SweeTango Way.” Two winners, one each from the United States and Canada, will receive a season’s worth of SweeTango apples, or about four dozen, virtually ensuring they get their daily apple.

A cross between the popular Honeycrisp and Zestar! varieties, SweeTango is an early-season apple that first came to retail in limited quantities in 2009. This year, it’s due to arrive shortly after Labor Day in more produce departments across the country.

SweeTango is grown and marketed by Lake City, Minn.-based Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative, a partnership of family-owned orchards. The apples offer a satisfying crunch and a sweet- tart flavor with hints of fall spices.

“As with any new variety, the volume of apples produced in the early years can be a bit unpredictable,” noted Dennis Courtier, director of Next Big Thing, A Growers’ Cooperative. “The trees are still young, but they have matured to a point where we are able to expand distribution nationally.”