YAKIMA, Wash. -- The Yakima Valley's apple industry has long been a central part of the area's economy.

Now the fruit is the center of a new entrepreneurial venture for two Washington State University students from Yakima.

Danielle LaRiviere, 20, and her sister, Megan LaRiviere, 18, spent their summer break developing Apple-A-Day, an apple delivery and storage service.

Subscribers to the service receive weekly deliveries of 10 pounds of apples, which are stored in a mini-fridge with clear glass doors.

The service costs $49.95 each month for a weekly delivery of 10 pounds or about 25 Red Delicious apples, or $59.95 for weekly delivery 10 pounds or about 25 apples of three different varieties.

Like any new venture, neither of the owners are earning a salary.

"We're working for ourselves and (that) means more," said Megan LaRiviere.

All summer long, the sisters went from business to business trying to sell customers on the concept, with the goal of having enough customers to begin the delivery process.

They initially aimed for 50 customers, but found that having 20 was enough to start the first delivery, which happened Aug. 31.

When they first started the company, the LaRivieres thought that their concept would be attractive to places such as doctor and dentist offices, where health is central to their business.

Instead, they found their concept was attractive to small businesses of different types. Their client list includes financial planning offices, law firms and automobile repair shops.

But the product's biggest selling point, Danielle LaRiviere said, was the ability for those businesses to provide employees and customers a convenient healthy snacking alternative.

"Everyone is trying to get a healthier lifestyle," she said.

Inland Pipe & Supply in Yakima used to offer doughnuts for their customers, manager Don Schut said.

"We talked about doing apples for the customers, but it just wasn't convenient to go buy them and put them out," he said. "This was just a convenient method for a healthier snack."

The doughnuts have disappeared from the counter since the first delivery.

Not that the customers miss it -- the apples are often gone from the fridge before the next scheduled delivery.

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The idea for Apple-A-Day dates back to 2002 while the owners' father, David LaRiviere, 48, was waiting for a potential client for his insurance company.

He noticed an upright cooler with a clear glass door with bottled water and a basket of apples for the employees.

The seed for Apple-A-Day was planted, but LaRiviere got busy with his insurance business, and developing the idea was set aside.

But after Megan LaRiviere graduated from West Valley High School and older sister Danielle returned from her first year at WSU earlier this summer, LaRiviere believed his daughters had the talent to build on his initial idea.

"I knew they had the confidence to handle the sales business," David LaRiviere said. "I knew they had the energy. I knew they had the smarts."

The elder LaRiviere went with his daughters on their first day of sales calls a few months ago. But it only took a few calls before he was told by his daughters to step aside.

While he still provides the financing for his daughters to start up the business, he's left the operations of the business to them. David LaRiviere estimates that the initial startup cost is between $8,000 to $10,000.

But any money earned by Apple-A-Day will go toward repaying that initial investment, Danielle LaRiviere said.

And while the sisters and business partners are back at WSU for the school year, they are determined to maintain control of the business they worked for all summer.

They keep in daily contact with Jared Copeland, 21, who they hired to do weekly deliveries and make sales calls on non-delivery days.

Every Monday, Copeland picks up the apples from the warehouse and makes the rounds to each customer. At each stop, he puts on white gloves to prevent direct contact with the fruit, cleans the fridge and washes the apples thoroughly. If there are any apples left in the fridge, he will take those out and exchange them for fresh apples.

And the owners communicate with both potential and existing customers via phone and e-mail.

And they think nothing of making the three-and-half-hour drive from Pullman back to Yakima at any point to take care of anything with the business.

"(The business) is not put on hold," said Danielle LaRiviere. "We're still wanting customers. We're still very active in the business."

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Jim Thomas remembers when he was at Eisenhower High School in the 1960s. There was a vending machine filled with apples.

Thomas, now owner of Smith Auto Electric in Yakima, hasn't seen anything like it since.

So he was enthusiastic about signing up for the Apple-A-Day service.

"The original design of what they put together is excellent," he said "The refrigerator is attractive. There's a glass door, so you can see the apples, so you know what's in them."

Thomas initially provided the apples to his employees, but found that customers, who would find the fridge in the waiting room, were interested in picking up an apple.

"The customers have been very enamored by the opportunity to have a free apple," Thomas said.

Apple-A-Day may increase people's attention of something they might not think about otherwise, said David Sprott, associate dean for graduate, international and professional programs at Washington State University and a researcher and teacher in marketing.

"I think it would remind people, if nothing else, 'Hey, don't forget about apples,'" he said. "To give it to someone and give it in a different setting makes people think, 'Hey, gee, maybe I should go to the store and buy apples.'"

There have been several years recently when the Yakima Valley and the rest of the state have had an apple crop around the 100 million mark.

Industry officials estimate the size of the 2008 crop is at a record 109 million boxes. And while the prediction of 107 million boxes for the 2009 crop is below the record, it's still more than the 90 million range that was typical a few years ago.

That means more apples to market. So services such as Apple-A-Day may create a new way to move those apples, said David Lawrence, president of Holtzinger Fruit Co., which supplies the apples for the business.

And the mini-fridge, which Apple-A-Day provides as part of the service, helps the apples stay crisp, he said.

"We've experimented with different ways to make apples more of a convenience food," Lawrence said. "If you make it available and easy, which this program does, apples will move."

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The LaRiviere sisters have plans to expand the service into the Tri-Cities when they return to Yakima after the school year is over.

They are also working to provide multiple delivery dates and discounts for those businesses who desire to stock more apples more regularly.

But the main focus is getting more clients in Yakima, maintaining the service for its current customers and having a pricing structure that is competitive but moves the business toward profitability.

"Delivery is the most important part," Danielle LaRiviere said. "Delivery has to be perfect and on time."

And maintaining that quality service will be key to the business' success, said Sprott of Washington State University.

"It's that whole package," he said. "It's hard to replicate something like (the Apple-A-Day service) on your own."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 509-0577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.