National Apple Museum



Biglerville, Pennsylvania

Marketing

High-quality Yakima Valley apples created their own market. In the early days most apples were shipped to the Midwest- chiefly Minneapolis, Chicago, and Omaha. Marketing was done by produce brokers, who bought the fruit from the growers in a private cash sale. The produce brokers, in turn, sold the fruit to wholesalers in major marketing cities. When the apples arrived in these cities, the wholesalers placed them on the auction block in the produce market.

The Northwest became known as the home of the big red apple. This was the golden age of the irrigated valleys of the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of settlers came to the Valley with dreams of prosperity in the fruit industry. New orchards sprang up all over the valley and soon the supply of apples far exceeded the demand. The new settlers had hardly started their orchards when the market collapsed, and freight cars of apples rotted on the tracks because markets could not be found. Growers believed that the dealers were responsible for the low price of fruit.

The Yakima Horticultural Union was founded in 1902, and the Yakima Fruit Growers Association in 1910. Throughout the Apple Industry, orchardists were forming alliances, hoping to gain control of fruit prices. Today there are various organizations supporting fruit growers and promoting their products. The Washington Apple Commission promotes apples in markets worldwide; its annual budget is close to twenty-five million dollars.

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The Biglerville Historical and Preservation Society
and The National Apple Museum
154 West Hanover Street - P.O. Box 656
Biglerville, PA 17307-9442 - Telephone: 717-677-4556

Biglerville, Pennsylvania

Marketing