Pink Lady apple
Malus domestica
One of the best-known modern apple varieties - and one of the most popular pages on this website.
Parentage: Golden Delicious x Lady Williams
Origin: Australia
Introduced: Late 20th century
Season: Dec-Jun
Apple cultivar ID: 112600
Perhaps more than any other modern apple, Pink Lady epitomises the trend towards product marketing and branding in the sale of apples. Pink Lady was one of the first apple varieties to be marketed as a "club". The variety is grown under a strictly controlled licence, and then marketed through a limited number of resellers to the supermarkets. This tight control is intended to keep quality and prices high, and it is portrayed as a premium product.
You may have sometimes seen another variety called Cripps Pink in the shops and noticed the similarity ... it is actually the same variety. In order to preserve the premium appeal of Pink Lady, about 65% of the production which does not meet the standards required for Pink Lady is sold as Cripps Pink instead. The distinction is primarily made on colour intensity and the sugar/acid balance. Whilst this might at first appear to be a cynical marketing ploy, it arguably benefits consumers because it means that the variability of quality of Pink Lady is less than you might find in other varieties.
The marketing effort has particularly targeted young women, and has resulted in Pink Lady apples being promoted in such unlikely settings as the Glastonbury music festival, as well as in women's magazines, and cross-marketed with Barbie dolls. Pink Lady even has its own website - www.pinkladyapples.co.uk. The marketing effort for Pink Lady focusses on lifestyle rather than flavour, and having achieved about 10% of the UK market in a very short space of time, it is clearly working.
Pink Lady was developed in the 1970s by John Cripps in Western Australia, and is a cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams. This same breeding programme also led to Sundowner - which shares the same parentage. Lady Williams is not a particularly well known apple variety in Europe, but has been quite widely grown in Australia, having been discovered as a chance seedling in the 1930s. It is probably from Lady Williams that Pink Lady gets its distinct colouring. (However it is interesting that another modern "blush" apple, the orange-coloured Tentation, is also a Golden Delicious cross). Pink Lady and Sundowner are very similar, but we think Pink Lady is just slightly closer to Golden Delicious in terms of flavor.
Pink Lady requires a very long growing period and a hot climate, and hence is only grown in the warmer apple-growing regions of South Africa, USA, southern Europe - and of course Australia. Strong sunglight in autumn is vital for the pink coloration to develop and growers may remove the top-most leaves of the trees to allow light to penetrate. Pink Lady is a vigourous tree and hangs on to its leaves well into winter. It also shares a characteristic found in some other apple varieties in that the quality of fruit in the early years of the tree is not good. These horticultural difficulties meant that Pink Lady was initially unpopular with growers - until they realised the premium prices they could get for this unique pink apple.
Pink Lady apples from the northern hemisphere tend to arrive in shops from late November - but the very long storage life means they are available almost all year round from northern or southern hemisphere orchards.
Does Pink Lady match up with the marketing ? Visually, it certainly does - it is still unusual to see an apple that is genuinely pink and Pink Lady is undoubtedly one of the best looking apple varieties available. We are not so sure the flavour is quite up there with the best modern varieties (take Jazz for example), and it struggles to compete with some of the more complex older varieties. Perhaps the most interesting comparison is with its sibling variety, Sundowner - we think Sundowner has a slightly better flavour, very similar to Pink Lady but just a bit stronger. Pink Lady is a fairly juicy apple, and the texture is solid and bites cleanly. The flavour is perfectly acceptable, slightly more acidic than Golden Delicious. In short, a very attractive apple with a good flavour, and deservedly popular.
Apple Tree Register
Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please register the details on our Apple Tree Register here.
Relationships to other apple varieties
Parents and other ancestors of this variety:
- Golden Delicious (parent)
Siblings of this variety (same parentage):
Discuss Pink Lady in our Forums
| 12 Dec 2009 20:50 | tom | |
| Ok. Pink ladies are great. BUT. the organic ones have a much more delicate and perfumey flavor. The non-organics, while crisp, often range in flavor from tasteless to waxy. But A rock hard, very red, organic pink lady is all I need. That sounds like a rock lyric but it's not. But it should be. | ||
| 05 Nov 2009 21:11 | lupe | |
| The Pink Lady is the best apple I have ever tasted. Our local grocery stores don't carry it anymore. I love it with peanut butter or cream cheese. It is the best. | ||
| 14 Oct 2009 15:17 | Niamh | |
| Pink Lady apples are the reason I began eating apples. For years I had lived off Granny Smiths and had gotten sick of them. I loved the apples we grew in our garden but never found any supermarket variety that was worth the money until Pink Ladys. I have now expanded my tastes but Pink Ladys are still one of my favorites. Does anyone else remember the Pink Kiss apples that tasted the same and got into lots of trouble for breaking the trade rules? | ||
Identification photos
Pink Lady apples (from Geoff Edwards, Brisbane, Australia)
Click the image to view full-size
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Where to buy apple trees
The following fruit tree nurseries offer Pink Lady apple trees for sale:
-
Cummins Nursery
New York, United States
Deliver nationally
Check website for availability
More supplier details
Where to buy apples
No fruit suppliers listed for this variety.
Apple tree register
The following Pink Lady trees have been registered - click the name to view more details of each tree:
-
Evelyn Doyle
Canberra, ACT, Australia -
Axel Kratel
Santa Cruz, California, United States - See a map of these trees
Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please found out more about our Apple Tree Register here and register your apple trees.
Variety request
Is your favourite variety not listed here? We are constantly adding new variety details, so please use our contact form to suggest new varieties.
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