Oppenheimer's Pacific Northwest Cherry Program
Vancouver, BC
The Oppenheimer Group’s Pacific Northwest cherry program has some impressive numbers to reveal. Volume has nearly doubled due to two premier Oregon cherry growers, Orchard View Farms of The Dalles, Ore., and Blue Mountain Growers of Milton-Freewater, Ore. The two growers complete Oppenheimer’s 2012 Northwest cherry program.
David Nelley, who runs Oppenheimer’s cherry, apple and pear marketing, states, “The volume increase will benefit both domestic and export markets." Mr. Nelley, continues, “Blue Mountain Growers harvest early and Orchard View Farms continues as a late supplier, so our customers can get consistent volumes of cherries from mid June through to mid August.”
According to Mr. Nelley, production is off to a great start and besides the small bouts of rain, weather conditions have been ideal. The growers produce in different geographic regions from the a large portion of the Northwest cherry crop and each has its own diverse micro-climate that provides diversity to a retailer’s cherry program. Orchard View’s orchards are located further south than most cherry growers’, allowing for an extended growing season
“Orchard View’s unique conditions lead to larger, sweeter cherries that are well-suited for our export markets,” Mr. Nelley, states. The Orchard View program is complemented by growing volumes from Blue Mountain Growers, who package under the sold in the Blue Goose label.
Blue Mountain Growers produce earlier, newer varieties with longer shelf life like Bentons. “We’ve added a third Red Pearl sizer, which will increase our capacity by 50 percent to 15 tons per hour,” said Justin Brunson, Blue Mountain’s CEO. “We’ve also brought in two new sorting tables, which means about 24 extra hands will be sorting and checking the quality of the fruit. This improves our efficiency and assures only the absolute best cherries get into the box.”
Oppenheimer’s cherry program continues into the Fall and Winter with Southern Hemisphere supplies out of Argentina and Chile.
