The cherry crop outlook is good, but The Oppenheimer Group experienced some frost damage in its orchards, said Jon Bailey, director of the cherry category for Vancouver, British Columbia-based Oppy.
“We will have similar timing to 2020,” Bailey said. “We expect peak availability June 25 to July 10.”
The firm will start harvest around June 9-10 and continue to the first few days of August, he said. Cherries may peak on 10-row sizes, he said.
In a new development for 2021, Orchard View Cherries upgraded its Unitec optical sorter to the Cherry Vision 3.0, Bailey said.
“We’re very excited to have even more precision in the label this year.”
Bailey said beneficial technology has included field clocks.
“We integrated field clocks a couple years ago, which has been really beneficial to the business,” Bailey said.
Each time a bucket of cherries is dumped into the bin by a picker, a manager scans the picker’s tracking device to log that bin’s cherry contents.
“This system enables the team to track all cherries coming into the packing house and aid in better communication throughout the supply chain. We have also increased trellis planting of cherries, which enables high-density planting per acre.”
