Hood River’s ultra-sweet, tree-ripened cherries shine — even at night

Hood River Cherry Co.’s orchards are situated in a pristine river valley off the Columbia River Gorge, flanked by the monolith that is Mt. Hood. The topography matters to the company, the community, and the fruit. “Our fruit enjoys consistently warm days and then we get the big temperature swing at night with airflow up the Gorge off the Pacific,” said Kristoff Fowler, field manager at Hood River, who maps out the geography.

“We grow cherries here because of the really cold nights,” said Fowler. He elaborated, “we’ve found the cherries become more acidic and more flavorful in the 45-50 degree nights common to Hood River.” To Fowler, it’s the little things like where you farm that make Hood River Cherry Co.’s premium, tree-ripened cherries so special.

Their elevation being another key factor, as Hood River’s high-elevation orchards set them up for one of the latest cherry harvests in the Northern Hemisphere. Fowler said, “Our operation at elevation gets going around the end of the first week in August and we’re still packing fruit through the first of September.”

Hood River Cherry Co. farms 300 acres and is known for its incredibly sweet, crisp, tree-ripened fruit. Fowler said, “While most cherries are picked at around 16-18 brix, we don’t pick our fruit until they hit 24 brix.” A standard practice since 1993, when founders Brad Fowler and Katy Klein, were dissatisfied with the quality of in-store product, and set out to bring to market what they knew a cherry should be: naturally sweet, full of flavor, large yet crisp, and deep red.

Hood River’s cherries are large and crisp, but the extra time ripening on the tree does make them more susceptible to bruising. “We don’t run them through an automated sorter, it’s too hard on the fruit,” said Fowler, who explained the extra-effort and investment Hood River puts into hand-sorting their cherries.

Fowler then said, “We decided to take it one step farther — we pick our fruit at night!” Outfitted with headlamps, workers start their shift around midnight, when the August heat begins to dissipate from the day, the orchard awash with construction lights. Since 2017 Hood River Cherry Co. has been harvesting cherries at night, the company viewing it as another integral piece to the quality of their product.

“The decision was two-fold, first our workers are a lot happier as it’s much cooler, and the cherries actually shine in the light, so they are easier to pick –– leaving a lot less fruit on the trees,” said Fowler. Fowler framed the unique standard they have set for themselves, “We’re the only ones in Oregon who are harvesting at night.”

It works well for Hood River Cherry Co. and fits a company ethos bent on disrupting industry standards, be it with their high elevation orchards, hand-sorting, midnight harvests, and 24-brix, tree-ripened fruit.”

Hood River’s late-season, premium cherries are available end of July through the first of September.