Washington’s newest apple hybrid to be named ‘Sunflare’

A new variety of apple in Washington has a unique name.

After getting 15,000 entries in a naming contest, Washington State University agricultural researchers have decided to call it the “Sunflare.”

The tart, crunchy and juicy Sunflare has a pink hue over a yellow background and is a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Pink Lady.

The contest winner was Ryan Escarcega, a 49-year-old food service service salesperson and chef from Centralia.

He said the name was inspired by the apple’s bright colors and last spring’s Northern Lights solar storms that were visible in western Washington for the first time in years.

“I looked at the picture of the apple for a long time, fantasizing what it was going to taste like,” Escarcega explained to the university’s online newsletter, the WSU Insider.  “It was a real eye-catcher. I saw a nice relationship between the colors and the name. And the sun has everything to do with the growth of the product.”

For his efforts, Escarcega received a box of Sunflare apples, a charcuterie board engraved with the winning name and other WSU-themed prizes.

WSU Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center Professor Kate Evans announced the new name at the Northwest Horticulture Expo in Yakima last week.

However, if you were thinking of running out to your local supermarket produce section to sample the new apple variety, you’ll have a long wait. Sunflare apples are not due to arrive in stores until 2029.

The new Sunflare will be the third apple developed by the WSU research program. It launched the “Cosmic Crisp” brand name five years ago.

The growers who developed the new Sunflare describe it as having a sweet and tart balance and complex flavor.

Researchers at WSU first developed the apple in 1998 when they hand-pollinated a Honeycrisp flower with pollen from a Pink Lady tree at the university’s Columbia View Research Orchard.

Bruce Barritt is a retired apple breeder who helped launch that program in 1994.

“We do what the bees do,” Barritt told the WSU Insider. “Sunflare resulted from pollination. It’s not engineered or modified in any way.”

Apple researchers generally test thousands of trees in the search for one outstanding variety.

They search for apple genetics that provide a great taste but are also capable of being stored for long periods.

Apple developers at the university said the Sunflare brand delivers the crisp and juicy genetic qualities of the Honeycrisp variety, combined with the outstanding firmness and flavor of the Pink Lady strain.

WSU holds a patent on the variety and has filed trademark applications for the Sunflare name.

An advisory committee of marketing companies will help with the process of licensing and marketing the new apple to grocers. They’ll also develop a new logo.

Funds raised from sales of the trees and the apples will help support future research and other new apple varieties at WSU.

Tom Brock is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Tom’s stories here.