Wenatchee, Wash.-based CMI Orchards reports excellent quality at the start of the Washington cherry harvest.
“The quality is really excellent this year,” Joel Hewitt, CMI’s domestic sales and organics manager, said in the release.
“In comparison to last year, where our tonnage was affected by complicated weather, we’re expecting a much brighter outcome with excellent quality from the color and condition to the exceptional eating experience,” he said.
Hewitt reports that CMI will peak with cherries the last week of June through the entire month of July, tapering off at the end of August. The latest crop update shows potential for a 75% harvest increase over 2022, primarily in red cherries, the release said.
“These forecasted volumes mean more cherries for all our customers, domestic and export, offering a greater ability to meet the strong demand for Northwest cherries in all the countries we normally ship to,” Hewitt said in the release.
Related: Fresh Trends 2023: Average retail price for cherries rose 20% in 2022
“CMI carries the largest varietal selection of cherries available in the market today,” Rochelle Bohm, CMI’s vice president of marketing, said in the release. “This, coupled with high-graphic point-of-sale materials and omnichannel support, means we’re uniquely positioned to not only set retailers up to drive their sales but also capture those impulse purchases that cherries inspire year over year.”
Some of CMI’s biggest stars this summer include branded conventional options Strawberry Cherries and Skylar Rae cherries, as well as the XXL Cherries and American Dream programs.
“Skylar Rae is by far the sweetest cherry you’ll ever eat with a very unusual and much-craved ‘crunch’ when you bite into their sweet flesh, and Strawberry Cherries’ darling freckles with hints of fresh summer strawberries have people waiting for their return every single year,” Bohm said in the release.
