A cherry harvest that matched the region's historical average but was better distributed over the summer months resulted in improved sales in 2024 for growers in Washington State and the Northwest.
The 82nd Cherry Institute convened on Friday, January 17, at the Yakima Convention and Event Center, and the news was much less grim than the previous year, when a massive and late California cherry harvest kept Northwest growers' abundant produce off grocery store shelves until after the 4th of July.
“California's shipments (in 2024) peaked on May 17, compared to June 12 in 2023. That's a good thing,” said B.J. Thurlby, president of Northwest Cherry Growers, in his recap of the 2024 season.
“We got off to a great start in June, shipping just over 8 million boxes... and our early fruit was of excellent quality and helped drive promotions that led to consistent purchasing (through July and early August),” Thurlby added. “This allowed demand to exceed supply in the post-4th of July period.”
The Northwest's cherry harvest for 2024 was 19.5 million 20-pound (9 kg) boxes, about 800,000 more boxes of fresh cherries than the previous year's regional harvest. However, due to 2023's abundant California cherries and the Northwest's difficulties in selling cherries, Thurlby estimated that about 4.5–5 million boxes of cherries were grown but not harvested that year.
Thurlby stated that the 2024 harvest matched the Northwest's five-year average of 19.5 million boxes, despite an early July heat wave that saw a week of temperatures between 100 and 105 degrees across much of central and eastern Washington and parts of Oregon.
“The last five years have been tough: we've had one weather event after another,” he said. “July's excessive heat pushed the fruit forward a bit, compressing some of our picking into that window.
“But it wasn't as bad as 2023, when we had 17 consecutive days with 500,000 boxes per day. In 2024, we had only five days of 500,000 boxes, and they were spread out over the season.”
Image 1.
Overall, last summer's Pacific Coast cherry harvest totaled 28.1 million 20-pound (9 kg) boxes, the fifth-largest total ever for the region, Thurlby said. This figure includes 8.6 million boxes from California and the rest from Northwest cherry growers.
Unlike last year, the overlap between California and Northwest harvests was minimal, which helps keep cherries on national grocery store shelves for several months and gives growers in Yakima Valley and other regions the opportunity to sell their fruit as it is harvested, Thurlby said.
Thurlby noted that about 1.59 million boxes of Rainiers were part of the Northwest's 2024 cherry harvest, a bit more than 8% of the total harvest. Organic cherries rebounded from 2023, increasing from 1% to 2.8% of the Northwest cherry harvest last summer.
One of the Northwest Cherry Growers' primary tasks is the marketing of the fruit both in the United States and around the world.
Older consumers tend to be the most loyal cherry buyers, both for the fruit's taste and its health benefits, said Karley Lange, Northwest Cherry Growers' director of national promotions.
Image 2: Northwest Cherries logo.
Lange said age is the most predictive demographic factor of the typical cherry consumer, who tends to be 55 or older, own a home, live in a two-person household, and earn between $100,000 and $150,000 annually.
Cherry growers need to target younger customers, particularly young families, who account for only 6.4% of all cherry consumers (households with children under six).
“Younger families are the target we’ve focused on in all our digital marketing and social media messaging,” Lange said.
In 2024, these efforts included everything from digital ad campaigns for Kroger, Sam's Club, and Walmart customers to a smaller promotion at the Sugarpine Drive-in near Portland.
The Troutdale sandwich and ice cream stand generated significant online interest from social media influencers, resulting in actual trips to the business along the Sandy River, Lange said, with many visitors enjoying special cherry-flavored foods and drinks.
As a bonus, the New York Times listed Sugarpine's Cherries Jubilee Sundae among the 26 best desserts its reviewers ate in 2024, Lange said.
The online attention and accolades, combined with social media influencers promoting cherries' health benefits and providing videos of tasty cherry recipes, are key to attracting new and younger consumers, Thurlby added.
“We’ve captured more consumers than we had at the start of last year,” Thurlby said. “And our retailer friends told us the fruit was exceptional in quality. That helps bring them back.”
Read the full article: The Columbian
Images: Cathay Cargo; Northwest Cherries
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