The Northwest cherry crop for Sage Fruit is wide-ranging across Northwest growing regions and high-flying in quality expectations.
Collectively, the marketer expects a great cherry crop from its orchards from southeastern Washington, through The Dalles and Hood River, Ore., up through Washington’s Yakima Valley, then shifting north through Wenatchee and Chelan, Wash., up to the Canadian border.
“Our teams have heavily invested in their packing line equipment to ensure only the highest-quality product is shipped to our retail and wholesale partners,” said Kaci Komstadius, vice president of marketing for Yakima, Wash.-based Sage Fruit. “Our lines are equipped with optical sorting which facilitates the elimination of both internal and external defects of the fruit.”
The outlook for the crop is strong, she said. Sage Fruit will carry both dark sweet and rainier cherries and offer conventional and organic fruit.
“The Pacific Northwest experienced a relatively mild winter and nice spring weather, which led to a good bloom on the cherry trees,” Komstadius said. “We hit full bloom in our earliest districts in late March, which will put harvest much earlier than last season — we’re tracking a full two weeks ahead of the 2023 crop (early June). Weather in the Pacific Northwest has been ideal for cherry growing, and we expect a high-quality, flavorful crop this season, which should last through mid-August.”
Mid-May industry estimates put the Northwest harvest at 16 million to 18 million boxes this season, Komstadius said.
“Given the exceptional growing conditions, we expect to see plenty of large, high-quality fruit this year, with excellent promotional opportunities,” she said.
Sage Fruit has cherry-packing locations in Yakima and Chelan in Washington.
The Northwest organic cherry crop is roughly 2.5% to 3% of total cherry volume.
Sage Fruit organic cherries represent about 2% of its total cherry volume, Komstadius said.
“Currently, the [organic] volume industrywide does not appear to be growing, but with organic trends, it stands to reason that it will grow in the future,” she said.
Marketing moves
Komstadius said the sales and marketing teams at Sage Fruit specialize in building unique and customized, seasonlong programs to meet its customers’ needs.
“With various pack styles, sizing and in-store POP material available, our goal is to help customers maximize their sales dollars through a tailored approach,” she said.
Visibility is the key, both in-person and with online sales, she said. Secondary displays, category size and location, and ad frequency all play key roles in higher cherry sales.
“One out of four Americans buy cherries each year, with 72% of purchases being impulse buys,” Komstadius said. “Retailers can capitalize on that by setting up a secondary display at the front door or near the checkout lanes. Sage Fruit currently has cherry-specific point-of-purchase bins available to all our retail and wholesale partners at no cost.
“Secondary displays drive 13.6% more lift in volume, 22.4% more in dollars,” she continued. “Keeping cherries in front of consumers for the duration of the season is the best way to maintain sales, whether it be in circular ads or multiple locations throughout the store. Promotions drive increased sales, while simple price drops fail to draw as much attention.”
Komstadius said cross-merchandising is also encouraged.
“Cross-merchandising with other recipe and usage ideas such as oatmeal, meat marinades, sauces, jams, salsas and pies prove that cherries are an expandable category,” she said.
Bags continue to be the primary pack style requested by retail partners, though the industry has migrated away from the standard Ziploc and are now packing into pouch bags, Komstadius said.
“Clamshells are available but are used less frequently, and when they are, it is usually driven by merchandising needs and/or the lack of ability to use a scale as they are sold by the unit, instead of per pound,” Komstadius said.
Northwest cherries find high demand globally, and Komstadius expects about 30% to 35% of the Northwest cherry crop will be exported in 2024.
