What makes Batlow Apples Australia's Favourite apple...

For over 85 years Batlow Apples have become famous for their delicious taste, their crisp, crunchy, juicy texture and their shiny, colour filled skin.

So what is the Batlow Secret? It is a unique combination of climate, soil, the best varieties, careful attention by growers in looking after their orchards, and a world class grading and packaging process.

Climate

A major part of the Batlow Secret to growing great apples is a very precise climate. Based in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, Batlow has the perfect climate-not too hot and not too cold. Red apples particularly need the cooler weather at night during ripening as it triggers an enzyme to increase the colour of the fruit. The Batlow climate is just right. Combined with its rich soil, it provides growing conditions which cannot be found or replicated anywhere else in Australia.

Advanced management systems

The Batlow Secret gets more and more complex by the day, with growers and Batlow Fruit Co-operative horticulturalists finding new and improved ways of not only growing their apples, but also controlling pests and minimising any damage to crops.

Advances in technology over recent years have lead to non-chemical means of controlling codling moths - the major pests of apples. This technology, known as mating disruption or IPM (Integrated Pest Management), involves the use of small dispensers placed in the trees, which emit synthetically produced female pheromones to confuse the male. This disrupts the mating cycle, controlling the pest. Widely used in Batlow, this breakthrough has completely changed the ecology of the orchards, allowing naturally occurring beneficial insects to survive and control other pests.

The Batlow Co-operative is proud of its achievements in its endeavour to provide consumers with a safe product grown under an environmentally sustainable production system.

Once the apples are grown and picked, the Batlow Secret then extends to a specialised washing, grading, packing and storage system which has again set the standard in Australia.

The Batlow Secret is one which has developed over a century, and is still continuing to grow. Like any trade Secrets, we can’t tell you everything, but we invite you to try one of the delicious varieties of Batlow Apples and taste the Batlow Secret for yourself.