WA Pink Lady apple founder John Cripps dies aged 95

The man behind beloved Australian apple brand Pink Lady has died aged 95. John Cripps passed away in Western Australia on Tuesday, more than 30 years after his apple formula was released to the market. His daughter, Helen Cripps, said their family was proud of her father’s agricultural legacy. “It took 25 years of research to develop the apple genetics of the Pink Lady to the point it’s at today,” she told ABC radio. “We are so proud that he’s left a legacy. He tasted so many apples he used to get stomach complaints, because he used to have to do the tastings.” Dr Cripps also detailed the lengths her father went to in order to create the brand’s eventual taste and ability to be eaten all year round. “It’s not just about crossing and getting a single apple, it’s about having to take the seeds, create seedlings and get the trees to grow to a certain size,” she said. “He was looking for a particular taste — he was looking for the red colour, the sweetness, the crispness … and that they had good storage so they could survive in cold store for a long time.” The Pink Lady apples first hit the market in 1991 and has since been listed as one of Australia’s top 100 greatest inventions. Eventually, the brand accounted for more than 30 per cent of Australia’s apple production. In 2010, Mr Cripps was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia and five years later was made an Officer of the order of Australia (AO).