These eight apple growers will travel in teams to three export regions to promote Washington Apple Week, a Dec. 1–6 campaign by the Washington Apple Commission. (Courtesy Washington Apple Commission)
These eight apple growers will travel in teams to three export regions to promote Washington Apple Week, a Dec. 1–6 campaign by the Washington Apple Commission. (Courtesy Washington Apple Commission)

Funded by federal trade mitigation dollars, the Washington Apple Commission will launch Washington Apple Week, a global promotion that sends grower ambassadors to visit exports markets to tell their stories and pitch Washington apples, among other activities.

The campaign will hold events Dec. 1–6 in 14 countries under the slogan, “From Our Trees to Your Table,” the commission announced in a news release Monday.

Highlighting the effort, eight growers will travel to three export regions to help spread the message, communicating with media, retailers and consumers.

“Consumers are hungry to know where their food is coming from and who is producing it. We are using this celebration as an opportunity to share more about the dedicated and passionate growers who are behind the amazing fruit we are exporting to over 60 markets worldwide, and providing education on the process of growing and packing an apple,” said Rebecca Lyons, the commission’s international marketing director, in the release.

Growers Andy Arnold, Carlos Lopez, John Freese, Jose Ramirez, Lindsey Morrison, Dave and Karla Robison and James Foreman will travel in teams to Mexico, Southeast Asia and India.

The campaign is one of the ways the commission is spending funds from Agriculture Trade Promotion, a program started by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to alleviate losses caused by global trade disputes.

—by Ross Courtney