Some indicators that apples are ready for harvest include brown seed coats, crisp and juicy flesh texture and the skin colour turning from green to yellow or red. Apples that are to be eaten fresh are hand picked into picking bags hung from the pickers shoulder. These bags are carefully emptied into wooden bins that hold 350 to 400kg. Two-thirds of the apple crop is sold fresh. Apples are either sold directly right after harvest or taken to the packinghouse where they are sorted, graded and packed into 18kg boxes and sometimes into smaller bags.
Packinghouses use modern equipment and computers, but still rely on hand labour.
Apples are shipped to North American markets by truck, and to other markets by boat. At the retail outlet, apples are either sold already bagged, or sold individually or in bulk by weight. The rest of the crop is processed. Apple juice is the most popular form of processed apples. To make apple juice, apples are washed and ground to a pulp.