The new SweeTango apple is described as a sweet and spicy in flavour. (Courtesy of SweeTango.com)The new SweeTango apple is described as a sweet and spicy in flavour. (Courtesy of SweeTango.com)

Apple growers in Nova Scotia are banking on a new variety to give the industry a bump not seen since the introduction of the Honey Crisp in the 1990s.

The Honey Crisp, a high-end, high priced-apple, helped save Nova Scotia's tree fruit industry in 1996 by promoting a unique apple that could be grown better in Nova Scotia than anywhere else. About 70 per cent of the crop is exported to U.S. markets.

The success of that fruit earned the Annapolis Valley a sought-after spot in the Next Big Thing, a club of professional apple growers that owns the rights to the SweeTango. The 45-member cooperative has growers from Nova Scotia to Washington State.

The SweeTango is a cross between a Honey Crisp and a Zestar and only a limited number of growers have the rights to it in North America. It was developed by the same apple breeders at the University of Minnesota who created the Honey Crisp.

Maritime debut

The red fruit is described as sweet and juicy with a hint of fall spices. It first hit North American shelves in a limited September run. Quebec is the only other province growing the SweeTango.

It made its Nova Scotia debut in October at the Maritime Fall Fair. It is expected to be more widely available in fall 2011.

David Cudmore, the chief operating officer of the Scotian Gold Cooperative, is chairman of the Next Big Thing.

"It has a little more spicy or full flavour to it. That really describes the extra flavour that comes with the apple," he said.

Cudmore said the SweeTango is important because it targets the premium price market. The SweeTango ripens about three weeks before the Honey Crisp, giving it a head start. Cudmore said his group has big ambitions for the apple.

"The name really says it all: the group is looking for the next big apple variety to enter on the marketplace and SweeTango is the next big thing," Cudmore said.

The Next Big Thing website said the new apple was not designed to bite into Honey Crisp sales, but to bring more total sales to the growers.