North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Melissa Kacalanos <mijwiz@yahoo.com>]

It was my understanding that the club varieties are about protecting the 
brand name recognition of certain apple varieties. To qualify as a member of 
the club, apple farmers don't just pay a licensing fee, but commit to selling 
fruit only of a high enough quality to keep the public convinced that apples 
of that variety are worth their premium price. The farmers have to meet some 
standards of thinning, picking only when actually ripe, proper storage, and 
so on. 

Since protecting the perception of their brand name is a major goal, I can 
understand why breeders don't want just anyone selling apples by these 
trademarked names. It only takes a few badly-grown apples for consumers to 
lose faith in the superiority of these trademarked names. And I'm sure they 
don't want any wormy backyard amateur apples sullying the good names of these 
carefully megafarmed varieties. 

But don't worry, I'm sure these varieties will become available to everyone 
as soon as the breeders come up with the latest varieties to replace them 
with.

Melissa