Wenatchee, Wash.-based Stemilt Growers’ new automated pear line is aimed to be fully operational by 2024.
The company broke ground on the new line in mid-March, according to a news release.
“We are very excited to be breaking ground on our new Rushing Rivers pear facility with expectations to be operational in February 2024,” Todd George, vice president of production, said in the release. “The pear packing line will be connected to our Fresh Center distribution facility where we have all the infrastructure to ripen pears and get them cold quickly in our forced air tunneling rooms.”
George said Stemilt Growers hopes to have the foundation and walls of the building complete by the end of August.
“The new facility will vastly improve productivity with state-of-the-art capabilities in handling, sorting, and packaging,” he said in the release.
