Cripps Pink

'Cripps Pink' (Pink Lady)
Details
Hybrid parentage	'Lady Williams' × 'Golden Delicious'
Cultivar	'Cripps Pink'
Origin	Australia, 1973

Cripps Pink is a variety of apple, from which apples meeting quality standards can be sold under the trade mark name Pink Lady. The Cripps Pink variety was originally bred by John Cripps at the (then named) Western Australia Department of Agriculture by crossing the Australian apple Lady Williams with a Golden Delicious in order to combine the best features of both apples. The apple is both sweet and crisp.

Registered trade mark

The Cripps Pink variety is owned and licensed by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), which has Plant Breeders' Rights in multiple countries. The peak industry body for Australian apple and pear growers — Apple and Pear Australia Limited (APAL) — “owns” and manages globally the “intellectual property” in the trade mark Pink Lady, which is registered in more than 70 countries.

Growth and development

The apple shape is ellipsoid, it has a distinctive pink hue mixed with a green "background," and taste is tart. The Cripps Pink variety requires a long, 200 day growth period and a hot climate, making them ungrowable in more temperate latitudes.

They are principally grown in Italy and extensively in Australia, but are also grown in New Zealand, Chile, Canada, France and in the US since the late 1990s.

The Pink Lady apple is becoming particularly popular in the United Kingdom and had approximately 10% of the market share in 2005.

Cultivation

Selected by 2800 producers, Pink Lady apples must meet strict specifications in terms of sugar content, firmness, colour and environmentally friendly production methods. Independent and rigorous inspections are regularly performed to ensure both the quality and traceability of the apple from the orchard to the shop.

Pink Lady apples do not like the cold weather, be it in spring or as an early winter. This variety is the earliest to blossom (late March/early April), and one of the last to be harvested (end of October/early November). It is the significant change in temperature between night and day in the autumn that gives the apples their pink colour. However, they must also be well exposed. Therefore, the trees must be carefully pruned and their fruit production well managed.

Gallery

• 

  Stacked Pink Lady apples on sale in Australia

• 

  Pink Lady with tag #4128

External links

• A detailed description
• The British Pink Lady website
• Australian data sheet on the variety