Chelan Fresh to merge with Borton Fruit of Yakima
The addition of Borton Fruit brings an immediate 47% volume expansion to Chelan Fresh’s sales and marketing portfolio, including organic offerings, early-season cherries, innovative plantings, and new proprietary apple varieties.
The partners in Chelan Fresh boast new and efficient production facilities and orchards. Together, the group has recently invested more than $235 million dollars in state-of-the-art packing facilities and technologies, new storage facilities, and production efficiencies.
These investments, combined with more than 13,000 acres planted in young, high-density orchards with modern trellis systems, will drive innovation on a large scale. In addition, the group will become an industry leading producer of ‘Honeycrisp’ apples. Chelan Fresh will market the majority of the new fruit under the globally-recognized Trout label.
“Customers want a one-stop-buying experience and shoppers want a wide selection of high-quality apples, pears and cherries all year long,” says Tom Riggan, CEO of Chelan Fresh. “With the increase in volume and varieties, we can support any size program 12 months out of the year.”
source: growingproduce.com
