Good Fruit Grower

May 15

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LATE, LATEcherries shippers to combine late varieties with high elevation growing areas to stretch their cherry marketing window to the end of July. And now, with late varieties like Sweetheart, Skeena, T and Staccato, their market reach extends through Labor Day weekend, says Roger Pepperl, Stemilt marketing director. "Retailers know that cherries are one of the highest Roger Pepperl sales rings in the produce department, and they don't want to see cherries go away," Pepperl said. "We have a really high following from the retail sector." Pepperl doesn't worry about cherry fatigue, a retail term he believes is more a reflec- tion on quality and supply and demand than it is of being tired of handling cherries. "Cherries are a fantastic item, and if we have good quality, we can't grow enough of them," he said. "Fatigue is a reflection of quality. Retailers never get tired of good quality cherries. It's usually an excuse for something you've done or they've done wrong." While the industry is producing more cherries, in general, he said most cherry activ- ity is still on the front end. He believes the additional late-cherry acreage is positive because it makes supplies more available, brings stability to marketing, and will help move volume away from the peak that generally occurs near the Fourth of July. Pepperl is unfazed by the potential of larger crops. "There is high demand for high quality cherries throughout the season, not just in July. But with cherries, it's all about timing," he said, adding that the industry can't market everything in a two-week period, a problem that occurred in 2009 when weather ripened much of the crop at the same time. "We can handle a 24-million-box crop over the summer, but we can't handle 24 million in two weeks." —M. Hansen Sweetheart, a late-season cultivar developed at the Summerland research center in British Columbia, Canada, is the second-most planted variety in Washington State. Company, Selah, Washington. "Most were telling us that it was their best cherry year ever," she said. "Retailers embraced the longer season, because they needed the sales in August that they didn't have in July." As long as fruit quality stays high at the end of the season and the consumer contin- ues to have a good eating experience, cherries can be successful in August, Wolter said. "Quality at the end of the season has to be as good as the front end." Mac Riggan, vice president of marketing at Chelan Fresh, the marketing arm of Chelan Fruit Cooperative in Chelan, Washington, echoed Wolter's sentiment on quality. "The eating quality of cherries is even more important in August," said Riggan. "By the time we get to August, the consumer has had cherries for three months and that pent-up demand is gone. Good eating quality—size, flavor, freshness—becomes even more important at the end of the season. Cherries are fighting for shelf space with other fruits, but cherries can give retailers some of the highest returns if fruit are good quality." Riggan believes that August cherry shipments and a trickle of shipments into September will represent about 20 percent of the total crop. Late-season exports also have opportunity for expansion, helping move the crop. "The key to a good back end is a good start," he said, adding that orderly marketing of a quality crop is what's needed, though that is often out of industry's control. He believes growers do the best job possible of producing a quality cherry, from aggressive pruning to managing fruit-to-leaf ratio. "Washington cherry growers are very proactive, hard working, and generally understand what's needed to produce quality fruit. Growers have learned to balance and manage crop load while achieving maximum quality." Labor implications Besides retail issues, a later cherry season has labor implications. As the Northwest cherry industry extends its market window through the end of August, more cherry pickers will be needed than in the past when the season finished in late July. Holding on to cherry workers longer will be important, but it also might be easier, as Stemilt Growers' Roger Pepperl pointed out. "Many of the late varieties are planted in modern orchards with dwarfing rootstocks and higher densities, and are more attractive to workers." The need for workers later in the season could be a blessing in disguise, said Mac Rig- gan of Chelan Fruit Marketing. With more cherry work available, workers may be inter- ested in coming to the Northwest earlier and be able to work until apple harvest starts. "It may help us secure workers for apple harvest," he said. For growers with late cherries and early apple varieties like Gala, the combination may give workers longer employment. • www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER MAY 15, 2012 23 Cherry shipments by month A growing proportion of the Washington State crop is being shipped in August. 100 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 August shipments July shipments June shipments SOURCE: Northwest Cherry Growers he name Stemilt Growers, Inc., has been synonymous with late-season cherries for many years. Stemilt, based in Wenatchee, Washington, was one of the first PERCENT

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