It's not promoting a sports team or a grill company.

它不是在廣告一支運動隊伍，也不是在廣告一家燒烤店。

It's for an apple.

它是在廣告蘋果。

And unlike those that have dominated the produce section when you were a kid, new breeds like this one have catchy names, logos, and slogans.

而不像那些你小時候常常看到的蘋果種類，像這種的新品種有很響亮的名字、標誌和標語。

And are trying to generate buzz before you can buy them.

而且試圖在你可以買到它們之前，就先製造話題。

Historically, our produce has gone unbranded.

在歷史上，我們的農產品一直都沒有商標。

So how did we end up with all these apples?

那麼我們最後到底是怎麼創造出這些蘋果的？

For most of the past century, America's iconic apple was that of Snow White.

過去一世紀以來，美國最具指標性的蘋果是白雪公主的蘋果。

Lipstick red, with shiny skin and a crisp white interior, a.k.a. "the Red Delicious."

像口紅般的紅，有著閃亮的外皮和清脆白皙的果肉，又被稱為「紅元帥」。

First grown on an orchard in Iowa and originally named after its founder, when it came out in the late 1800s, it was dubbed "the best apple of any time."

第一次被種植於愛荷華州的果園上，並且依其創立者命名，當它於十九世紀晚期出現時，它被稱為「世界上最好的蘋果」。

Growers and retail stores loved the Red delicious because it looked good.

種植者和零售商都很喜愛紅元帥，因為它長得很漂亮。

It was uniform in size and color, turned red before it was ripe, and wouldn't bruise easily.

它的大小和顏色都很一致，在成熟前就會變成紅色，而且不會輕易碰傷。

And Americans loved the taste.

而美國人也很愛這樣的口味。

By the 1980s, close to half of all apples grown in the US were Red Delicious.

一直到 1980 年代，種植於美國近乎一半的蘋果都是紅元帥。

The trouble is, when you bite into one now, it often doesn't taste great.

問題是，當你現在咬下一顆，通常不再那麼好吃。

People complain of mushy flesh and tough skin. Its defining characteristic can sometimes be that it has no flavor at all.

人們抱怨它鬆軟的果肉和堅硬的外皮。它最具代表性的特點是有時候吃起來一點味道都沒有。

It takes years and a lot of money to develop a good tasting apple, but growers were incentivized to cut costs at the expense of taste.

創造出一種好吃的蘋果要花好多年的時間和金錢，但是種植者被鼓勵要犧牲味道來削減成本。

That is, until one apple proved them all wrong.

也就是說，直到有一顆蘋果證明他們都錯了。

The Honeycrisp.

蜜翠果。

The honeycrisp is everything that the Red Delicious was not.

蜜翠果和紅元帥完全不一樣。

When it came out in 1991, after 30 years of development, it had a refreshing taste, a delicate skin, and a soft, juicy crunch.

當它於 1991 年上市時，經過了 30 年的培育，它有清爽的味道、精緻的外皮和又軟又多汁的口感。

And even though it can cost more than two times the average price of apples, consumers then and now are willing to pay a premium price, so much so that it's now the fifth most produced apple in the US.

而儘管它要花上比平均蘋果的價錢的兩倍還多的金額，仍有很多消費者有時候仍願意花較多的錢買它，以至於它現在是美國生產第五多的蘋果。

So the honeycrisp started a sort of revolution in the apple industry: Now that people knew expensive, flavor-focused apples would sell, breeders experimented to create tastier, more inventive varieties.

蜜翠果開啟了蘋果產業的大變革：現在人們知道昂貴的、重視口感的蘋果會大賣，種植者透過實驗去創造更好吃，更具創造性的不同品種。

And they sought to protect their apples' good names, by patenting their trees and trademarking their brand names.

而他們試圖透過得到他們的果樹的專利權及為他們的品牌名字註冊商標，來保護他們蘋果的好名字。

This process picked up speed after a 1980 federal law allowed universities to own and patent their inventions, including apple trees.

自從 1980 年的聯邦法律通過大學擁有及為自己的發明，包含蘋果樹申請專利後，這個過程持續加速。

And research programs for apple breeding took advantage of the new rules.

而有關種植蘋果的研究計畫得利於這些新規定。

In order to plant these new patented varieties, growers had to pay up: usually about $1 per patented tree and a portion of sales for use of a trademarked name.

為了要種植這些新申請專利的各式品種，種植者必須付：通常是每一棵有專利保護的果樹一美元的金額和一部分的營業額，以使用商標名。

Plus, each trademarked apple had to pass muster on firmness, sugar content, blemishes and color.

再者，每一顆有商標的蘋果必須通過有關堅實、糖分含量、瑕疵和顏色的檢查。

These quality checks mean that even though the trademarked Pink Lady and the generic Cripps Pink originate from the same type of tree, they look and taste different.

這些品質檢測意味著即使有商標的粉紅小姐和沒有商標的脆粉紅都源自同一種果樹，它們仍看起來不同，嚐起來也不同。

The Pink Lady is held to rigorous trademark standards and that is what, the company says, justifies their higher price.

粉紅小姐有嚴格的商標標準，而這正也是該公司所說，賦予它較高的價位正當性。

Now, not all new apples get trademarked.

然而，並非所有的新蘋果都有註冊商標。

It is only those that experts believe can garner a premium price.

只有那些專家相信能夠有好價格的蘋果才有。

And it can take up to 10 years after securing a patent and trademark to grow enough trees for commercial production.

而它可能需花上十年才能在獲得栽植的專利及商標權後，種植足夠的蘋果樹以負擔商業產量。

So while they were waiting on the fruits of their labor, growers worked on marketing their apple in the hopes finding loyal consumers in a competitive market.

所以當他們正等待著處理蘋果時，栽植者努力行銷他們的蘋果，希望能在競爭的市場中找到忠實的消費者。

And they're not alone.

而他們並不孤單。

Visit your grocery store and you will see a lot more name brands in the produce section.

去你的雜貨店走一走，你會在農產區看到更多不同的品牌。

Branded fruits and vegetables are a growing trend.

有商標的水果和蔬菜是一個成長中的趨勢。

While not all branded apples will see success on par with the honeycrisp, there is one that has high hopes.

並非所有的商標蘋果都和蜜翠果一樣成功，卻仍有一種蘋果很有希望。

Washington State growers are ramping up production of their Cosmic Crisp, an apple that's both sweet and tart, firm and crisp, and much easier to grow than the honeycrisp.

華盛頓州的栽植者正提高他們星際脆的產量，一種既甜又微酸的蘋果，堅實又清脆，且比蜜翠果好種植。

They're trying to get people excited about tasting something new and that's not a bad thing.

他們正試著讓人們期待嘗試新品種，而這不是一件壞事。

While we could see higher prices in the future, the fruits and veggies themselves will be objectively better.

當我們預期未來更高的價格時，水果和蔬菜本身也會變得更好。

And consumers will have more options, just like we do with our phones, or our computers, or our cereal.

而消費者會有更多的選擇，就像我們的手機一樣，或是我們的電腦，或是我們的麥片。

And now, our apples.

而現在，是我們的蘋果。