Today marks the start of the Washington cherry season for Rainier Fruit. “We will be packing our first cartons for the season, which starts with the Chelan and Coral varieties,” says Troy Howard who is responsible for Rainier’s cherry program. The company’s cherry crop is geographically diverse with fruit spread out all over the state. Harvest of Chelan and Coral varieties will be followed by Bings, Skeen, Regina and Sweethearts.
More cherries in June
Howard feels Washington’s cherry industry is in an ideal situation this year. “So far, Mother Nature has been very cooperative with great weather. In addition, we will have more cherries to ship this year in June than we had in 2017,” he said. The crop looks like it will be a nice even spread throughout the season. “It’s a very marketable crop with excellent quality and shipments are expected to continue through the second week of August.” The Northwest cherry estimate is currently at 23 million cartons compared to 26.5 million cartons last year.
The majority of Rainier’s cherries are shipped within the domestic market, but the company also ships to Canada as well as Asia. “Domestic cherry consumption is developing quite nicely, said Howard. “It is imperative for the industry to put the best product in front of the customer. Only that will allow consumption to continue to improve.” In addition, Rainier has witnessed increased demand from Asia over the years. “Also this season we are expecting good demand from Asia for a premium product that eats well.”
Organic production is growing
Although still a small share of total volume, organic cherry production is growing in Washington. It makes up about three percent of the state’s total cherry volume. “We are one of the larger organic cherry growers in Washington with roughly 10 percent of our production being organic,” said Howard. He considers demand for organic cherries to be decent but noted that it will be interesting to see how consumers react to an increase in organic cherry supply in the years to come.
For more information:
Troy Howard
Rainier Fruit
Tel: (+1) 509-697-3996