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A conversation with Bruce Grim: 'Nothing like a good apple,' says executive director of the state horticulture association.

Article Excerpt
Bruce Grim grew up on his family's orchard in Entiat doing everything from thinning trees to fixing ladders or 'anything else his father needed him to do.

Grim left for college and ended up in Oregon before returning to Washington and working in the tree fruit industry as a grower and a packer, operating a warehouse.

In August, Grim began work as the executive director of the Washington State Horticulture Association, which focuses on providing education and training and advocating issues affecting the tree fruit industry.

He said he hopes to bring synergy to the industry with his 25 years of experience on the production side combined with his marketing know-how gained by working with groups such as Washington Apple Growers Association and the Washington Apple Commission.

Wenatchee Business Journal: In October the National Agricultural Statistics Service said the state's 2007 fruit crop came in at $8.51 billion, up 23 percent over 2006. Apples topped the list with $1.75 billion, up from $1.41 billion in 2006. What does that mean for the area and the industry?

Bruce Grim: We've just completed an outstanding year in the tree fruit industry. Grower returns are back where they should be.

We've bounced back since the industry meltdown in the late 1990s. We had just barely recovered from the Alar issue at that time. It's been a 20-year transition, a battle. But one thing this industry has always done, I think, is that it never considered itself anything less than the big dog. It's continued to look at new ways to do things and market itself.

Innovation has been key to this industry since the get go more than 100 years ago.

We continue to increase the percentage of apples we grow in the state compared to the rest of the nation and there's a reason for that. We are innovative across the board.

WBJ: You talk about changes, what about varieties?

Grim: The last few years has seen the diversification of the crops we are growing making an impact on the market. Going back 10 or so years ago, we kept hearing from retailers, "Gosh, we know reds, goldens and grannies, but we don't know about Fujis and the others. How many can we really put on the shelf?."

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I think there was initially some push back from retailers about stocking them. It seems to have come full circle now. They are out there looking for that new variety. It used to be the big three and now it's like walking into a candy store.

And we have new innovations that 10 years ago people would have laughed at, like sliced apples.

Of course the problem in those days was the slicing and the...

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