Inventing a Better Apple

About this episode

Kate Evans discusses the innovations in apple breeding and the development of new apple varieties.

The apples you can buy at the grocery store have gotten profoundly better over the past few decades. It’s a kind of everyday, hiding-in-plain sight innovation. Kate Evans is an apple breeder and professor at Washington State University. Kate's problem is this: How do you invent a better apple? With her team, Kate has in fact invented a new kind of apple called the Sunflare. It’s arriving in stores in a few years. She also helped to invent the Cosmic Crisp, which is out already. In this episode, Kate explains:  Why grocery-store apples have gotten so much better Why some of the most delicious apples never make it into stores  Why it takes decades to invent a new kind of apple How much more we have to learn about apple genetics  How the apple industry is adapting to climate change  Connect with us: Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn , X and Instagram  Email us at problem@pushkin.fm   Follow Pushkin on Instagram , LinkedIn or X   Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History  To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Jacob Goldstein

Guest: Kate Evans

Topics covered

• apple breeding
• innovation
• agriculture
• genetics
• climate change
• food industry

Keywords

• apple breeding
• Sunflare
• Cosmic Crisp
• innovation
• genetics
• climate change
• food industry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Washington State University

Products: Sunflare, Cosmic Crisp

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