Grower-shippers in California and the Pacific Northwest were reluctant to go on record with their predictions for this season’s cherry crop, but most agreed that, if Mother Nature cooperates, there should be plenty of the little red orbs to go around this spring and summer.
Last year in early February, all California districts had a good bloom and appeared headed for success, said Kaleb Smith, assistant sales manager for Flavor Tree Fruit Co., Hanford, Calif.
But then the rains came.
“Packouts dropped substantially, and the amount of fruit we were able to ship dropped substantially,” Smith said.
He added that, after the rain, “quality was just not there.”
As the deal moved to the Northwest, memories of the poor quality from California probably hurt some of the demand from dissatisfied customers, said Jon Bailey, category manager for cherries for Vancouver, British Columbia-based The Oppenheimer Group, which markets cherries from Orchard View Farms, The Dalles, Ore.
“Midseason was okay, but we could feel that there was going to be an uptick from the northern Washington region having a lighter crop and receiving some of their own rain damage,” Bailey said. “Sure enough, the end ramped up quickly, much faster and higher than we first thought, but the last two weeks helped raise the entire season overall to a very good season.”
This year should be similar to last year, judging from the weather as of mid-February, said Chuck Sinks, president of sales and marketing for Sage Fruit Co., Yakima, Wash.
“We’ve experienced a relatively mild winter thus far, though colder weather is in the upcoming forecast,” Sinks said.
“California has had good chill, and Washington’s snowpack and chill is great, as usual, for cherries,” added Brianna Shales, senior marketing manager for Stemilt Growers, Wenatchee, Wash.
Smith said California volume likely will be down slightly because of the heavy set last year, but he added that fruit size could be larger with “great quality.”
Varietal options
Although there are many kinds of cherries, consumers usually don’t purchase cherries by variety, Sinks said. They’ll usually pick either rainers or dark sweet cherries.
Sage Fruit offers a wide selection, including Benton, Skeena, Regina, Sweetheart, Bing, Chelan, Cowiche, Kordia, Tieton and Tamara cherries, Sinks said.
Oppy, through Orchard View Farms, offers the basic five commercial Northwest varieties — Chelan, Bing, Lapin, Skeena and Sweethearts, Bailey said – along with Santina, Regina, Kordia, and two blush varieties, Rainier and Early Robin.
“We have several new varieties coming on board over the next two to five years,” Bailey said. “Some are early season, and some are mid- to late-season timing.”
All are high-producing, good-eating varieties that are large-sized and have higher crack resistance than most current varieties, Bailey said.
Stemilt grows many dark sweet cherries, including the Skeena variety, which is featured in the company’s Kyle’s Pick program.
“Skeena is a big, firm and dessert-flavored cherry that ripens in July and runs into August,” Shales said.
Stemilt also has Skylar Rae as a signature variety, available from mid-June to mid-July.
“It’s bicolored and the sweetest and firmest cherry we have,” Shales said.
In California, Stemilt grows the Coral, which Shales noted is quickly replacing Bing there.
Flavor Tree is enhancing its Sequoia variety program, Smith said.
The company will have more Arvin Glen and Glen Early cherries in late April and early May that will complement its early Sequoia, Brook and Royal Tioga varieties.
Flavor Tree also is expanding production on its Glen Heart red cherry.
The company will be promoting its Arvin Glen, Glen Early and Glen Heart varieties, which are new within the past season or two and just starting to see increased production, Smith said.
Trending
Grower-shippers described several trends taking hold in the cherry category.
For one thing, there’s growing interest in organic cherries, Smith said. Flavor Tree offers organic cherries from California now and continues to expand those offerings, he noted.
The company has organic versions of Rainier and its proprietary Sequoia. Most of the organic cherries come out during the first part of the season, Smith said, so the company is planting some later varieties to expand its program. They should be available within one or two seasons.
Sage Fruit also has some organic cherries, Sinks said. He anticipates growth in that category.
Bags are the package of choice for cherries at retail, Sinks said. However, the industry has migrated away from the standard zippered bags in favor of high-graphic pouch bags.
Top-seal packages are another increasingly popular choice. The packaging process can be easily automated with top-seal packs, and they reduce the use of plastic, Shales said.
Some retailers request packages that use less plastic or can be more easily recycled, Bailey said.
“At this time, moving from our standard pouch bag or clamshells to a fiber, compostable material has the hurdle of being able to see the product,” Bailey said. “The trick will be to get away from plastic while maintaining the visibility of the fruit itself.”