"Everybody wants to know about the cherries this year." So says Mac Riggan with Chelan Fresh.
The cherry deal from the PNW may wrap up around August 15th which is really early compared to past seasons.
While it's early yet to fully assess the upcoming cherry crop out of the Pacific Northwest, cherry harvest is anticipated to start around June 1st–slightly earlier than last year. "I think we have a smaller crop on the tree than last year," says Riggan, noting just over 18 million boxes of cherries were shipped from the region last year.
However, given reports about British Columbia having a minimal, if any, cherry crop this season following cold weather earlier this year, the demand pressure will likely be on the cherry season from the PNW. "We'll be the late deal this year and even in Washington, some of the later cherries in the Wenatchee area were hit as well by cold so that late deal might also be shorter," he says. There may also be some overlap with California cherries in late June given that the region might ship later too.
Early end of cherries
In all, this means the cherry deal from the PNW may wrap up around August 15th which is really early compared to past seasons–normally supply goes until Labor Day. "I do anticipate a good eating crop of good-sized fruit out of Washington. Growers pruned their Chelan variety of cherries really hard compared to last year so I think that we'll see a lot of larger size, good eating quality Chelan variety cherries this year," Riggan says. "The overall crop will be good as well. The bloom is not a "popcorn" bloom–it's very even and consistent on the tree which means the cherries will ripen uniformly on the tree."
Riggan says the SugarBee® apple is one it will be shipping more and more into Canada--particularly Eastern Canada.
CPMA
Along with cherries, Chelan Fresh has several other topics it will be discussing at its booth, #425, at the upcoming CPMA Convention + Trade Show in Vancouver, Canada April 23-25. This includes organic apples, along with club varieties SugarBee®, an apple it will be shipping more and more into Canada (particularly Eastern Canada), and Chelan Fresh's proprietary Rockit™ apples which are available year-round, along with sustainable packaging efforts. "We're looking at a lot of different things in sustainable packing including compostables," says Riggan. "However, people want to be able to see the fruit. Packaging is fluid right now and everyone wants to do the right thing so we'll be talking about this at the show."
For more information:
Mac Riggan
Chelan Fresh
Tel: (+1) 509-682-6074
macr@chelanfresh.com
www.chelanfresh.com