BC cherry grower expects September finish with new block

The main harvest for British Columbia grower Jealous Fruits is now underway. The start of the season saw lighter volumes as the early season varieties now make way for the main harvest. Growing conditions have been good, with warm days moderated by sufficiently cool temperatures during the evening. 

"Our season began on July 3 with the last two weeks seeing small volumes on the early varieties," said Julie McLachlan of Jealous Fruits. "As of this week, we will begin our main harvest with varieties including Lapin, Kordia and Skeena, and we expect to have consistent promotable volume through to the end of the season which we expect to be approximately September 4. Additionally, we have a Rainier block that will be harvested late July. This is very late for that particular variety. Quality is exceptional with good firmness and full sugars."

"We are the most northerly cherry grower in BC so we start later than most others," McLachlan continued. "We have experienced perfect cherry weather with moderate daytime temperatures with good overnight chill hours. Additionally, our position on Lake Okanagan means we enjoy a moderating effect from the lake, with temperatures often three to four degrees lower than the surrounding region."

Being the last major cherry growing region to get going in the North American season, BC enjoys a favorable window as the more southerly regions have completed their season. For Jealous Fruits, this year their latest block will have its first commercial crop, which will help them extend the season even further, with cherries there to be picked into early September.

"We have a new high elevation block that goes into production this year, called El Dorado," McLachlan shared. "This block sits at an elevation of 2400 feet and will extend our season by about a week. We also have a lot of young orchards that are coming into production as well, which will provide a lift to our overall production."

The export market to Europe is quiet at the moment, as there is still plenty of local fruit to fill up shelves without any notable input from Canada. This is not the case however, for China, where the market is considerably more active. Much of this has to do with the tariffs that the country imposed on US-grown fruit. This, of course, means that more attention has been turned to Canadian growers. 

"The market in China could be considered 'frenetic' at the moment due to the tariffs on Washington cherries," McLachlan observed. "Therefore, a lot of buyers are looking for Canadian fruit. There is still plenty of volume from Washington heading to China, but there is significantly more demand for BC cherries this year."

"We expect that movement out of BC will be very strong in August," she continued. "Very strong sales are also expected in China for our 2.5kg gift box. This gift box will be available for Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations which falls on September 24 this year. This is one of the largest Chinese Holidays and is often celebrated with gifts such as a cherry box."

For more information:

Julie McLachlan 

Tel: +1 (250) 766-0738