U.S. apples & pears — the year-round category that stores well.
Washington Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Cosmic Crisp — plus Bartlett, Bosc, and Anjou pears — moving on controlled-atmosphere reefer and air-cargo lanes into the GCC, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia.
Washington apples — the export category that the world relies on.
Washington State produces the overwhelming majority of U.S. apples and pears destined for export. The 2025 crop is expected to hit a record approximately 8 billion pounds — up roughly 7% from 2024. U.S. apple exports are forecast at 890,000 tons for the 2025-26 marketing year, up 51,000 tons on the back of higher Washington production. U.S. pear exports are forecast at 100,000 tons, up 39% from the prior year, on a domestic crop of 565,000 tons (+22% YoY).
That volume runs on infrastructure no other country can fully replicate: hundreds of controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage rooms in the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys, decades of pack-house refinement, and an export packing culture that's been shipping into the Middle East since the 1960s. The result is a category that ships year-round, holds quality on long ocean reefer transits, and supports both volume retail programs and premium varietal work.
What USME brings: the coordination between Washington pack-houses and the buyer's program — variety mix, count grading, retail labeling, CA storage selection, ocean reefer booking, and the documentation set for each destination. We don't own pack capacity; we work with the established Washington pack-house network, plus secondary U.S. apple origins (New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania for specific varieties) as the program requires.
Year-round availability via CA storage.
Apples don't have a "season" the way berries or stone fruit do. CA storage extends the August–November Washington harvest across the next 10 months. Below is the working availability map by variety.
Pack styles and grades.
| Apple — tray-pack carton | 18 kg (~40 lb) telescope carton. Tray-pack counts 88, 100, 113, 125, 138, 150. The export standard. |
|---|---|
| Apple — volume-fill carton | 18 kg loose-fill in same carton. Lower cost; wholesale market default. |
| Apple — bagged retail pack | 3 lb or 5 lb bags inside a master carton. Modern-trade retail default. |
| Apple — single-serve / premium | 4 to 6-pack consumer trays for Honeycrisp, Cosmic Crisp, and HORECA programs. |
| Pear — wooden lug | 22 lb (~10 kg) traditional wooden lug. Counts 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120. |
| Pear — corrugated carton | 22 lb tray-pack in cardboard carton — modern export-program default. |
| Grading | USDA Extra Fancy and Fancy grades standard for export. Premium grades available for HORECA. |
| Labeling | PLU stickers, destination-language labels, private-label printing. |
Cold chain and CA storage — the apple secret weapon.
Apples and pears are remarkably tolerant in transit when they're handled by pack-houses that know what they're doing. Controlled-atmosphere storage is the multiplier — lowering O2 and raising CO2 effectively slows ripening to a near-stop, which is why your Washington Fuji in May tastes the same as the one in October.
| Apple — transit temperature | -1 to +1°C, 90–95% RH. Tolerates standard reefer extremely well. |
|---|---|
| Apple — CA storage / CA container | ~2% O2, ~2% CO2 (variety-specific). Shelf life extends by months. |
| Pear — transit temperature | -1 to 0°C, 90–95% RH. |
| Pear — CA storage | Variety-specific. Bartlett: low CA tolerance; Bosc & Anjou: excellent CA. |
| Ethylene management | Apples and pears are heavy ethylene producers. Don't co-load with ethylene-sensitive cargo. |
| Pressure bruising risk | Tray-pack reduces transit bruising vs. loose-fill — matters most for long ocean voyages. |
| 1-MCP treatment | Available at some Washington pack-houses; suppresses ethylene-driven ripening further. |
“The Washington apple industry has been doing controlled-atmosphere storage for sixty years. There's no shortcut, and there's no equivalent anywhere else in the world.”
Where we ship U.S. apples and pears.
Apple and pear lanes are the broadest in our book — anywhere with modern-trade retail or a wholesale market that handles imported fruit, we have a program option.
Air vs ocean — the apple-specific economics.
How USME runs apple and pear programs.
- Vendor pre-screen by Washington pack-house — CA storage capacity and variety breadth confirmed.
- Variety calendar agreed in writing, with seasonal substitution rules where storage runs out.
- Pack style (tray-pack vs bagged vs volume-fill) matched to the buyer's channel.
- Ocean reefer CA booking for long programs; air cargo for premium and gap-fill.
- Documentation coordinated per destination — including phytosanitary + COO + CA storage declaration.
- Tonnage commitment locked ahead of harvest for the best Washington pack-houses.
Frequently asked questions
Which U.S. apple and pear varieties does USME ship?
Apples: Washington Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady (Cripps Pink), and Cosmic Crisp. Pears: Bartlett (Williams), Bosc, Anjou (red and green), Comice, Forelle, and Asian pears in season. Variety availability is calibrated against current Washington and Pacific Northwest packout schedules at the time of quote.
Why is Washington State the focus for U.S. apple exports?
Washington leads U.S. apple production by a wide margin — the 2025 Washington apple crop is expected to hit a record approximately 8 billion pounds, up roughly 7% from 2024. Washington's combination of controlled-atmosphere storage capacity, mature export packing infrastructure, and a 60+ year shipping history into the GCC and Asia makes it the natural origin for any serious year-round apple program.
Can USME supply U.S. apples year-round?
Yes. Controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage from the autumn Washington harvest extends supply through the following spring and summer. Combined with summer-fresh harvest, U.S. apples ship 12 months a year. Pears follow a similar pattern — Bartlett peaks summer-fall, Bosc and Anjou store through spring with CA discipline.
What pack styles does USME use for apple and pear exports?
Apples: 18 kg (~40 lb) telescope cartons in tray-pack (88, 100, 113, 125, 138, 150 count) or volume-fill (loose) format. Bagged pack — 3 lb or 5 lb bags inside a master carton — is common for modern-trade retail programs. Pears: 22 lb (~10 kg) wooden lugs traditionally, transitioning to corrugated cartons for export programs. Tray-pack 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 count standard.
What is the cold chain target for U.S. apples and pears?
Apples: -1 to +1°C, 90–95% RH. Pears: -1 to 0°C, 90–95% RH. Both categories are remarkably tolerant in transit when pre-cooled and held to spec. Controlled-atmosphere conditions (~2% O2, ~2% CO2 typical for apples; lower for pears) extend storage and shelf life dramatically — most of our long-storage programs ride CA reefer container.
Should I ship apples by air or by ocean reefer?
Most apple programs into the GCC and Asia move by ocean reefer in CA containers — the per-kg economics work strongly in favor of sea for a category that tolerates transit so well. Air cargo makes sense for premium varieties (Honeycrisp, Cosmic Crisp) into high-end modern-trade and HORECA programs, or for filling supply gaps. We run both.
Does USME ship U.S. apples and pears to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Pakistan?
Yes. Saudi Arabia (JED, RUH, DMM) and the UAE (DXB, Jebel Ali) are core destinations for our apple and pear programs. Pakistan (KHI, LHE) has growing premium-retail demand, particularly for Fuji and Gala. We also ship into Turkey, Kazakhstan, Egypt, and India for premium modern-trade chains.
How does USME handle apple/pear claims?
Apples and pears are the lowest-claim-risk category in our book — they ride well and store well. When a real issue happens (often pressure bruising, scald, or a CA-room break), the cold-chain record tells the story. We settle on what actually happened with the vendor or carrier. No claim inflation needed.