This is the third time I've bought the "Topaz" variety of organic apples at Migros. Migros only sells them in packs of six. Otherwise, I buy "Topaz" apples at the market and in various organic stores. I've also bought them directly from the farm. I only like the Topaz variety and I don't like any other apples. So I know exactly what Topaz tastes, smells and looks like. My sons also only like this variety.
For the third time, I have to say that the organic apples sold in Migros as Topaz do NOT taste like Topaz. I don't like them at all. They don't smell like Topaz either and at second glance, when unpacked, they don't look like Topaz either.
That is extremely annoying. I know that Topaz are very popular, but to sell a similar variety as Topaz?
This morning I asked my pregnant colleague at work, who has only eaten Topaz since she became pregnant, for her opinion and she said in a very definite tone that the apples I showed her (bought this morning) were definitely not Topaz apples.
Do we not know enough about apple varieties and this is a special variety that you can't get anywhere else under the name Topaz?
Thank you for the clarification!
All replies (10)
Guest
Hello
I don't believe that Migros fakes or mislabels apples. The Migros Topaz is probably just a more ecological product than the Topaz from the organic store. Organic and ecological are not the same thing. In most cases, organic doesn't have much to do with eco, but unfortunately most consumers don't care.
The metabolic processes in the apple continue even after harvesting, starch is converted into sugar, acids break down, the fruit releases water into the environment and becomes soft as a result. This makes the apple inedible at some point. During ripening, many types of fruit, including apples, release ethylene, which accelerates the ripening process. This is clearly visible if you have a bowl of apples next to a vase of cut flowers. The flowers wilt much faster than if the fruit bowl is placed somewhere else.
When storing apples, various methods are used to delay ripening. The easiest way is by refrigeration. This slows down the metabolic processes considerably and the fruit can still be enjoyed several months after harvesting.
The Topaz that you were not happy with probably came from a cellar storage facility or an ordinary cold store. Topaz is harvested between the end of September and mid-October and is then ready for consumption in mid-December. Refrigeration alone can keep it edible for around three months after harvesting, after which it begins to decompose even in a cool environment. This means that it becomes overripe and slowly enters the rotting stage, which naturally affects its taste. However, an overripe apple can still look perfect.
By increasing the ambient temperature, as in a store, the ripening process, which is slowed down by refrigeration, continues. If the perfectly ripe Topaz apple has been stored in a cool place for three months, then packaged and sent to the store, it may have already been a little warmer for two days and therefore already gone bad.
Another method of storing apples is CA storage. This is also a cold store, but the fruit is cooled at a constant temperature and stored at high humidity in a controlled atmosphere (CA). There are no temperature fluctuations or draughts in a CA store as there are in a normal cold store or even a cellar. A Topaz bought in March that can still be fully enjoyed was almost certainly stored in a CA storage facility.
The latest technology in fruit storage is the so-called SmartFresh gas. In this process, the apples in a CA storage facility are additionally treated with the gas methylcyclopropene (MCP). This blocks the effect of the apple's own ripening hormone ethylene by occupying certain pores in the skin. Ethylene stimulates many of the ripening processes in the apple - if it is missing, the apple falls into a kind of permanent sleep. Even after storage on the supermarket shelf, these fruits hardly ripen at all. The method has so far been classified as harmless and does not have to be declared.
So if you buy great tasting topaz from an organic store or health food store in March, then a lot of electricity and technology must have been used to store them. Ask the organic stores where exactly they get their topaz from. If they tell you something about farms or organic, you should avoid these stores in future, because you will certainly be lied to in other areas too. With ecologically responsible storage, there will be no more edible Topaz in March.
Greetings from the yellow Migi piglet
Thank you for your answer Migi-Ferkel. Your answer "sounds" plausible. Nevertheless, I don't believe that consumers are being ripped off by the three organic stores. Two of them buy their apples from a Demter farm. What's more, the apples stay good and fresh for a week and don't rot, even though I store them in the heat. I know that the apples emit this gas, and I take advantage of this when the bananas (which I rarely buy) are still unripe by placing them next to the apples.
I have now found organic Topaz apples in another Migros store in the city center. And lo and behold, in my opinion, these are the right Topaz.
The fake Topaz apples look like Ariwa or Jazz to me. They are similar but in my opinion not Topaz. See photos.
Topaz are somewhat striped
The apples in the second picture are the ones that I think really taste and look like Topaz. The others, first picture, are similar but different...
Guest
Hello@Alteshaus
I apologize that you haven't heard from me here.
The explanations from@deactivated users are correct: storage is definitely an issue that has an influence on the taste, appearance and consistency of the apple.
I would be happy to pass on your feedback to the relevant store so that they can make sure that no mistakes have been made here: either during packing or storage. Can you tell me in which store you bought the Topaz that you don't like?
Best regards
Tanja
Hello @Tanja
Thank you for your reply.
I bought the wrong ones for me in the Schützenmattstrasse Basel store. Then I bought the "real" Topaz at the Hutgasse store in Basel. Today I was in the Zigelei store in Allschwil (reopening) and it was so extremely clear to see. The Topaz apples were next to the Jazz apples. And to me, the Topaz apples in the Schützenmattstrasse branch look exactly like Jazz. It's not that these apples taste bad, they're actually similar, even a little sour and sweet. But Topaz are my favorites. Incidentally, all the other "real" Topaz are not immediately spoiled when they get home. With the Topaz from Hutgasse, I didn't taste any difference at all to the organic Topaz from the organic stores, they were flawless and the ones from today, i.e. the one I've eaten so far, were also very good and, as always, looked the same.
It's really only the Topaz from Schützenmattstr.
Guest
Thank you for the addition@Alteshaus.
I will be happy to pass the information on to the Basel branch so that they can check whether something has gone wrong with you.
Kind regards
Tanja
Guest
Hello@Alteshaus
As promised, I checked with the store in Basel to see why one apple looks (and tastes) different from the other. The store confirmed to me that both packs really are Topaz apples.
However, the variety - like all others - is constantly being further developed in order to achieve better coloration and consistency of the apples as well as increased resistance, and the apples that you didn't like are a Red Topaz, a special Topaz variety that is the product of such further development.
Kind regards
Tanja
Hello @Tanja
Thank you very much for the clarification. That's very interesting and I can see that your concerns are taken seriously. That's great! I am glad that I now have confirmation that I was not mistaken and that they really are different.
But then I would like to say that I hope that the "original Topaz" will not be developed any further. It's a shame that it's all about the economy again, that they only want to develop longer-life apples instead of offering fewer or not all-year-round apples. I won't be buying the others.
Thank you
Exactly the same thing happened to me a month ago. I told the employee that these were not Topaz apples. I'm sure they wouldn't be if they weren't! Was the snippy reply. Anyway, I've now found an apple grower, Gfellerhof, where I can buy real Topaz and at a cheaper price!