The First Round Crop Estimate, published on May 2nd appears to be the most accurate at this point, with its projection of 20.74 million boxes. Round 2 projected 19.8 million and the June 1st Round 3 Projection estimated 19.6 million boxes to be shipped. "Early season estimates, including the collected consensus of growers at our annual 5-State meeting, were cautious until a better understanding of "the missing Bing" crop from poor pollination was understood. Minimal drop in some varieties and increased fruit sizing have boosted overall shipments, especially in the earlier part of this season," explains James Michael from Northwest Cherries.
July saw just over 7,757,000 boxes shipped from the Northwest this season, according to initial tallies. That makes it the 8th largest July on record, but over 5.5 million boxes behind the largest July of 13.3 million in 2012. As was the case for many aspects of the season, July shipments were similar to last year when 7 million boxes were shipped at an average rate of 226,000 boxes per day. "This season our industry maintained a pace of 250,000 boxes per day for the month."
Total Rainier shipments will finish near 1.55 million 15-pound boxes. A few Rainier shipments continue to leave daily, but volume shipments have essentially drawn to a close for the season.
"As the Northwest season begins to wind down, Top Retailers are maintaining cherry displays for those last summer cherry dollars. In-store visibility is THE key factor in cherry sales, and that's never more important than on either end of a season. If customer’s don’t see the cherries, a retailer is missing out on the 53% impulse rate opportunity for incremental sales."
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