Growers describe it as a "beautiful time of the year" and the blossoming of the cherry trees in Washington can certainly be described as beautiful in many ways. Over the next few weeks, cherry blossoms will signal the countdown to the Washington cherry season which is now less than two months away.
"Cherry harvest typically begins at the beginning of June and runs through the second week of August," noted Rochelle Bohm of CMI Orchards. "We are expecting first harvest to be ready out of the Tri-Cities and Mattawa regions in Washington State. Right now, bloom is just beginning, and over the coming days and weeks a blanket of cherry blossoms will spread across the state. It’s an absolutely beautiful and exciting time of year."
It's still too early to know what volume can be expected but according to CMI Orchards, pre-estimates indicate a similar season to the last couple of years. It is, however, expected to begin later than normal. "Early signs show potential for a good crop this year," Bohm shared. "We are guessing the crop size will be similar to the last two years based on pre-estimates from our growers, but this information can change rapidly with weather fluctuations. It’s still early days and anything could happen at this point. We are predicting a later than usual start, probably around June 15-18. This will push the entire crop back to wrap up in the latter part of August."
Working on staying ahead of the game
For CMI Orchards and its growers, developments in the cherry industry are always forging ahead. The company is expecting expanded acreage once again and it has also invested in test plantings to trial new cherry varieties and genetic strains. "It is important to CMI that we stay at the cutting edge of quality and we’re continuously striving to produce cherries that are exceptionally sweet, firm and of the highest quality possible," Bohm said.
She added that growers are also investing in new machinery and software upgrades with the aim of moving towards automation, something they see as helping to optimize the quality and efficiency of packing. "Quality, quality, quality - that’s the main thing on our minds each cherry season as we aim to deliver the ultimate eating experience for our customers!"
Plenty of packaging updates
CMI Orchards has also been busy working on packaging designs for the upcoming cherry season. One of the new items to be introduced is a 1lb Daisy Girl Organics top seal cherry clamshell package, which the company says is 100 percent recyclable and offers a 30 percent reduction in plastic over traditional clamshell packaging. Further to the enhanced packaging, Bohm said they will also be launching a new cherry display.
"The new cherry display is a really neat idea and is easy for retailers to execute," she explained. "It ships with two full cases of pouch bags or clams and can be set up in less than a minute. Since cherries are primarily an impulse purchase, displays give produce managers more tools to capture those important incremental sales during the summer months. CMI's display can be positioned anywhere in store, and has been found to be effective when up near the checkout lines, in the freezer section next to ice cream, or in the BBQ/picnic areas."
CMI Orchards sells to all 50 states, North and South America, and a number of export markets overseas.
For more information:
Rochelle Bohm
CMI Orchards
Ph: +1 (509) 888-3434
rochelleb@cmiorchards.com
www.cmiorchards.com