Sweethearts dethrones Bings as most shipped cherry in 2016
The Northwest cherry industry shipped 3.49 million 20-pound box equivalents of Sweethearts, 17 percent of the 20.97 million box crop, compared to 3.36 million boxes of Bings at 16 percent. Only two years ago, Bing outpaced Sweethearts 18 percent to 10 percent.
“This year the numbers show clearly that Sweetheart is now king — at least for a year,” Fruit Commission president B.J. Thurlby said in the update.
Breaking down the volume by variety is an inexact science, however. Many buyers simply ask for the label “dark sweet cherries,” which accounted for 7.08 million boxes, or 34 percent of the crop. Bings and Sweethearts qualify for that category, thus, both varieties likely comprised even higher percentages of the total.
source: goodfruit.com
