01/24/06 Russia`s view of Northwest apples

01/24/06 Russia`s view of Northwest apples

Russia has long been an emerging market on the radar map of Washington's apple industry. What started as sales in the mid-1990's primarily in the Eastern Asian region around Vladivostok, has grown to now include the more affluent and thriving retail sectors of metropolitan areas like Moscow and St. Petersburg. And to continue to foster that relationship between our apple industry and Russian importers, the Washington Apple Commission recently extended an invitation. BAERVELDT: What we did was to sponsor a group of ten key importers, many of them medium size that are currently purchasing Washington apples either directly or through middle men, and we brought them over to Washington State, had them look at our packing facilities down in Yakima and then brought them up to Wenatchee as well. And according to Apple Commission Export Marketing Director Rebecca Baerveldt, the recent tour has produced verbal commitments of increased purchases of Washington apples both immediately and in the very near future. BAERVELDT: One of the things that was just overwhelming to them on a personal level was the openness and warmth with which they were received here in Washington, and of course, the high level of quality, the professionalism of our apple shippers and the packing houses. The scope of it, we took them to see some very large packing facilities as well as some smaller ones.
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