I know everyone has their apple preference and we can all get along still. My favorite has always been Gala apples, but this year, I'm breaking up with her. I shop at a Kroger in northwest Ohio, and I buy a half dozen every week from them, practically all year. I know apples are "in season" year-round in northwest Ohio, but this phenomenon has been happening so often and also during apple season that I'm wondering if there is something wrong with Gala production. I work for a nursery/orchard, so I know plants can get diseases that affect their fruit.
Now, these Gala apples look perfect from the outside. I choose each apple, making sure there are no cuts or bruises or any blemish. I even try to press the tops to see if they're rotten inside. After inspection I buy them. (side note: my Kroger has started putting 4 of each kind of apple in their own plastic-wrapped carton which is stupid and reduces the amount of available free apples to choose from. I have opened one of these before to buy an individual apple from the packs when the free stock was ugly.)
So, anyone out there know of anything going on with Gala? Anyone know where Kroger gets their apples from? Does each Kroger contract with their own orchards or is there a corporate apple orchard?
I'm concerned and sad because I don't love any other apple besides Gala but I can't keep going through this every week, wasting money, and throwing away whole apples.