Good Fruit Grower

January 15

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8 JANUARY 15, 2015 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com Cherry growers recognized for innovative campaign T he Asia Fruit international award for the best 2014 marketing campaign, won jointly by Northwest Cherry Growers and two Chinese companies, was pre- sented to the Washington State Fruit Commission board of directors during its December meeting. Philander Fan and Victor Wang, N o r t h w e s t C h e r r y Growers representa- tives in Hong Kong and China, brought the award to Washington State. Sharing the award with Northwest Cherry Growers are Fruitday, an online produce retailer, and the large e - c o m m e r c e g i a n t TMall. The three enti- ties are credited with p i o n e e r i n g o n l i n e produce sales in China, said Fan. Since the first Northwest cherry sales, sold through TMall and Fruitday, began in 2013 (See "Cherry sales sizzle in China," Good Fruit Grower, October 2013), others have followed. Fan worked with three major e-commerce com- panies in China last year and reported that Northwest cherry Internet sales increased more than 800 percent in 2014, when 140,000 boxes were sold. "The new air cargo route from Seattle to Shanghai added last summer by China Eastern Airlines also helped with Internet cherry sales," said Fan, who noted that some 50,000 boxes of Northwest cherries were sold through the airline's website and other Internet platforms. Announcement of the prestigious award was made during Asia Fruit Congress and Asia Fruit Logistica, an international convention and trade show held annually in September in Hong Kong. The Northwest Cherry Growers is the promotional arm for cherry growers in five states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Montana) and is administered by the Washington State Fruit Commission. Nye earns Michigan Hort's distinguished service award T he Michigan State Horticultural Society gave a distin- guished service award to Ken Nye, who retired earlier this year after 37 years working as a commodity specialist for Farm Bureau. Nye grew up on his parents' farm in Berrien County near Stevensville, Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in horticultural marketing and was hired by Michigan Farm Bureau in 1977 to work in its Commodity Activities and Research Division as a specialist. In 1984 he went to Chicago as a horticulture specialist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, where he was involved in international trade and national legislative and regulatory work, traveling to represent grower interests on the national level. In 1989 Nye returned to Michigan Farm Bureau as director of the Commodity Activities and Research Division, where he has helped expand international mar- kets for growers and worked on other issues relating to pesticides and research. MELISSA HANSEN Victor Wang, left, and Philander Fan with the 2014 Marketing Campaign of the Year Award. Ken Nye

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