After a difficult season, the Yakima annual conference shines a spotlight on prices, market dynamics and future strategies
The 2025 cherry season in the Pacific Northwest left many growers with a bitter taste. Despite an excellent harvest in terms of quality, with large, firm fruit and intense flavor, and the absence of extreme weather events or punitive tariffs, returns for growers failed to cover production costs.
With 23.6 million boxes harvested, packed and shipped, it was the third-largest crop in the area’s recent history, but also one of the least profitable. Now the industry is preparing to analyze what went wrong at the Cherry Institute, scheduled for January 7, 2026 in Yakima, Washington.
According to key players across the supply chain, including growers, packers and marketers, the main problem was a misalignment between supply and demand in the first weeks of the marketing season. The early arrival of Northwest cherries coincided with a shortage of California fruit, just 4.4 million boxes, prompting retailers to keep prices too high. The result was slow sales right when strong turnover was needed to manage early volumes.
“Retailers and consumers didn’t react in time, and when prices finally came down, it was too late to recover,” explained Karley Lange, domestic promotions director for Northwest Cherries.
In market jargon it is called a “pipeline problem”. Without a smooth transition between the California and Northwest crops, the system jams. While growers accuse retail chains of keeping shelf prices above $5 per pound, over €10 per kilogram, in early June, large, increasingly concentrated retailers hold the bargaining power to protect their margins.
Promotions also started late, while grower prices were slashed to stimulate sales. A paradox, considering that many growers saw retail prices remain at $3.99 or $3.49, about €7.40 or €6.50, without benefiting from it.
“Every year they ask us for bigger fruit, but if we cannot make money on 9-row cherries in a season without California competition, what are we supposed to do?” asked a grower on the Cherry Institute organizing committee.
The reality is that today everyone produces excellent fruit. New breeding lines elevate every cherry, but that is no longer enough. Timing matters. Pushing large volumes into the wrong window, such as the mid-July peak, risks flooding the market. Packers raise quality standards and cut prices, further squeezing growers’ margins.
In British Columbia, growers are now avoiding investment in varieties that ripen in that window, specifically to avoid colliding with Washington’s surplus wave.
At the Cherry Institute, new tools to analyze price movement and market dynamics will also be presented, with contributions from Adam Brohimer of Luminary Insights. Forecasting models are evolving as well, moving beyond simple crop estimates to continuous in-season monitoring, to help sales stay one step ahead.
The stakes are high. Without more refined flow management, even the best cherry risks missing its market.
The conference promises to be a valuable opportunity for dialogue and for charting new paths. As experts keep repeating, “Quality is no longer enough. A shared strategy is needed.”
Source: goodfruit.com
Opening image source: Superfresh Growers
Kate Prengaman
Redattrice di Good Fruit Grower
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