Minnesota’s newest apple, First Kiss, is ready for picking!

First Kiss is one of the newest apples on the market. It’s close to 10-11 years old, but it’s been in development for many years. On the commercialization side, it’s been on the marketplace for about three or four years.

It was developed by researchers from the University of Minnesota. One of the key attributes of First Kiss is that it’s an early apple. The developers used Honey Crisp genetics and crossed it with an early, maturing apple called a Monarch out of Arkansas.

Now there is a variety of First Kiss that will come to market early this month.

Compared to Honey Crisp, there is a “little bit more tanginess and zing” according to Don Roper of Honeybear Marketing LLC. What it inherits from the Honey Crisp is the delicate cell structure that gives it that crispy, juicy taste. But First Kiss apples are a unique apple at a time when you can’t get Honey Crisp, which gives it another appeal in the marketplace.

In select retailers, you’ll see First Kiss apples although it’s a small crop this year with limited production. Roper says that because of Minnesota’s big hail storms, production hasn’t proliferated to the level many farmers had hoped.

You can find First Kiss apples at Target, Cub Foods, and Lunds & Byerlys.