Washington State University has released a new apple variety expected to be available in grocery stores in 2029.

WA 64, which has yet to receive a brand name, is a hybrid of Honeycrisp and Cripps Pink, a type of apple that includes the popular Pink Lady.

“It’s a firm but crisp apple with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness,” said Kate Evans, a WSU horticulture professor in charge of the university’s apple breeding program.

WA 64 also is pretty, Evans added, with a pink blush on a yellow background.

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Evans expects WA 64 to have a broad appeal with the public and farmers, and be available year-round in stores.

The university will select a partner in the coming weeks to make trees available to Washington growers, according to a WSU news release. A brand name will be chosen in 2024 and that process could include suggestions from the WSU community and focus groups.

WA 64 comes on the heels of Cosmic Crisp, another WSU-developed apple that reached consumers in 2019. According to the university, Cosmic Crisp has become a top 10 best-selling apple variety in the United States.

Evans said that WA 64 probably won’t make as big a splash as Cosmic Crisp, which is one of the largest and fastest commercial plant releases ever.

“I think we’re now at more than 20 million trees (sold),” Evans said.

Evans also cautioned against extrapolating a timeline for WSU’s next commercial apple based on the releases of Cosmic Crisp and WA 64.

“It’s really about when something that is good enough surfaces through the program,” she said.

“We want to continue to provide a steady stream of new, improved varieties,” she added, later in the interview.

A new hybrid often takes decades to ripen as a candidate for commercial release.

WA 64 was first crossed in 1998, so it’s expected to reach supermarkets 31 years after being created. Cosmic Crisp took 22 years of development.

Evans said WA 64, like Cosmic Crisp, stores very well, is durable, and is self-thinning, all of which provide advantages for growers.

Researchers are still determining best growing, harvesting and storage practices, Evans said. That includes whether stems need to be trimmed to prevent damage, which is a necessity with Cosmic Crisp’s stiff stems. So far, Evans added, trials with WA 64 haven’t shown extensive stem punctures.

The timing of harvesting also should appeal to growers because it falls within the Golden Delicious harvest season. And WA 64 could present a fresh alternative for Washington farmers’ portfolios.

“A lot of the older varieties, the returns are not great for the grower,” Evans said. Golden Delicious doesn’t have the best quality year-round, and apple growers are looking for varieties that can be sold from January through December.

WA 64 received its numerical designation because it is the WSU breeding program’s 64th apple to move into the second phase of a three-phase selection process.

In phase one, a new hybrid is evaluated with as many as 15,000 other apple possibilities. By the third phase, only a handful of finalists remain.

A committee of growers and scientists decides what apples progress forward, the news release stated.

WA 64 trees are clones, reproduced through cuttings, with fruit-bearing budwood, or scions, grafted onto different rootstocks.

WSU’s apple breeding program started in 1994 and WA 64 is the fourth commercial apple released by the university.