The Iowa Apple That Was Too Beautiful for Its Own Good

Once upon a time in 1880, a humble orchard in Iowa produced an apple that was the epitome of sweetness—a round, blushed yellow fruit so delightful it could make even the crankiest old farmer crack a smile. Fast forward to today, and the Red Delicious apple has evolved from its original “apple of the gods” status into a fruit that's more about looks than taste. Until 2018, the Red Delicious was the reigning champ of apple production in the U.S., but even the most popular apples can’t stay on top forever.

Selective breeding and decline in demand

According to Wikipedia:  The Red Delicious apple’s rise and fall is a tale as juicy as the fruit itself. In the 1940s, this apple was the apple of everyone's eye in the U.S. By the 1980s, it was hogging three-quarters of Washington state’s apple harvest. But then something went wrong. Instead of focusing on taste, commercial growers started choosing apples based on their ability to stay fresh for months and look like they stepped out of a glossy magazine. This led to apples that were more about their flawless red exterior than their flavor. It's like putting a pretty cover on a book with nothing good inside!

The Coming Years were not good

By the 1990s, the very traits that made Red Delicious apples popular had begun to turn against them. Farmers had pushed their orchards to the brink, and the Washington apple industry was on the edge of disaster. In a dramatic twist worthy of a soap opera, Congress stepped in with a bailout bill in 2000, signed by President Bill Clinton, to save apple farmers from a $760 million loss since 1997.

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As the 2000s rolled in, farmers started ditching their Red Delicious orchards for cooler kids on the block like Gala, Fuji, and Honeycrisp. By 2003, Red Delicious made up just 37% of Washington’s apple harvest, down from its heyday. The apple that was once the biggest name in the fruit aisle was now facing serious competition. By 2018, Gala apples finally stole the spotlight from Red Delicious in U.S. sales.

Even the COVID-19 pandemic threw a rotten apple into the mix, further reducing demand as cafeterias and typical sales spots closed up. Red Delicious might still be around, but it’s no longer the apple that everyone is reaching for.