The cherry season has come to the Central Okanagan. At Kempf Orchards in Kelowna, owner Herb Kempf says he is having a hard time keeping up with the demand. According to Kempf, the season was delayed by about two weeks due to the cooler-than-normal spring.
"Very busy, yes," he said. "Huge demand and we have heard that Washington State and Oregon have no fruit either, so the demand is just massive."
"Washington State got hit with the cold spring even worse than us. They had a cold spring with five inches of snow on trees that were in full bloom, so there was hardly any pollination that took place," said Sukhpaul Bal with the B.C. Cherry Growers Association.
"A lot of the cherries that are grown here are going overseas. They are either going to China or I think Japan is a new market now, and they are looking at India and Korea so they can't get a lot of the cherries and they are later varieties. So the people that are from here would get a lower grade of cherries. They are looking for fruit and they can't find it anywhere," Kempf said.
Source: castanet.net
