McLean, Va. – The U.S. Apple Association’s (USApple) 2001 Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference, to be held Aug. 16-17 at Chicago’s Fairmont Hotel, will feature national and world apple industry experts addressing a range of current marketing topics.

The conference is the premiere national meeting of the apple industry and provides attendees with the first look at U.S. and international crop and market outlooks, giving them an edge in the competitive global market. Designed for industry members from around the globe, the 2001 Outlook Conference is expected to draw a record crowd surpassing last year’s attendance of 350.

Conference speakers and the topics they will address include:

• Michael Choi, Zhonglu America Corporation/Shandong Zhonglu Juice Company, Commerce, Calif. – 2001 Chinese apple crop overview;

• James R. Cranney, Jr., USApple, McLean, Va. – 2000 U.S. apple crop and U.S. processing apple demand overview;

• Julia Daly, USApple, McLean, Va. – Health marketing discussion panelist;

• David Nelley, David Oppenheimer & Co. L.L.C., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Southern hemisphere marketing trends;

• Thomas M. O’Neill, The Norfolk Fruit Growers' Association, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada – 2001 Canadian apple crop outlook;

• Desmond O’Rourke, Belrose, Inc., Pullman, Wash. – China’s future role as exporter and processor;

• Dr. Elizabeth Pivonka, Produce for Better Health Foundation, Wilmington, Del. – Health marketing discussion panelist;

• Leighton Romney, Paquime, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico – 2001 Mexican apple crop outlook;

• Kristin Rowles, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. – Consumer focus group results;

• John Skorburg, American Farm Bureau Federation, Chicago, Ill. – 2002 world economic outlook; and

• Tom Stenzel, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Alexandria, Va. – Health marketing discussion panelist.

• Daniel Corbel, AFD DIPRA, Bel Air, France – European apple industry trends.

The apple industry’s top two awards, the American Fruit Grower magazine’s Apple Grower of the Year, and The Packer/The Grower publications’ Apple Person of the Year, will be presented at the conference.

Major sponsors of this year’s conference include Bayer Corporation, BASF Agricultural Products and Syngenta. Other sponsors to date include AgroFresh, Inc., Aventis Crop Science, Gowan Company and Valent Bio Sciences Corporation.

Registration fees begin at $295 for USApple members. Attendees can pre-register through Aug. 3, or register on-site for an extra $50. For more information regarding registration or sponsorship opportunities, call USApple at (703) 442-8850, or visit USApple’s Web site at www.usapple.org.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state apple associations representing 9,000 apple growers throughout the country, as well as nearly 500 individual firms involved in the apple business. USApple’s mission is to provide the means for all segments of the U.S. apple industry to join in appropriate collective efforts to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.