“This season is off to a great start with excellent quality and a good market with strong demand,” Michael D’Ottavio, president of M. D’Ottavio Produce Inc. in Vineland, NJ, told The Produce News May 11. “Freight rates from out west are so high that it leaves more room for eastern growers to market their product. If quality and demand stays this strong. we should have a fantastic season in Jersey.”

The slow start for Northwest cherries has Rainier Fruit Co. in Selah, WA, expecting light volume for its initial harvest, but Marketing Director Suzanne Wolter said in mid-May that the company “will have good volume before July 4.”

Ms. Wolter said first loads will likely go out around June 13.

“We’re looking at this as 12 days later than normal, whatever ‘normal’ is,” she said.

Noting that California has also come into its cherry season later than it generally does, Ms. Wolter said the overlap should not be a problem.

Though the Northwest cherry harvest is getting off to a later start in 2011 due to weather events earlier in the season, Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers in Wenatchee, WA, nonetheless expects an increase in volume this year.

“Right now we’re seeing things getting off to a somewhat late start,” said Dan Wohlford, national sales representative for Oneonta, in mid-May.

Mr. Wohlford added, “It will be a struggle to get any kind of volume loading for the Independence Day holiday.”

Loren Queen, marketing and communications manager for Domex Superfresh Growers in Yakima, WA, chose his words carefully when describing growing conditions for the 2011 cherry crop. “Cold. Windy. And late,” he told The Produce News May 12. “But today is a gorgeous day.” He quickly followed up the description by adding that the bees have done their job. “There are piles of blooms out there [in the cherry orchards],” he observed.

L&M Cos., located in Union Gap, WA, anticipates quadrupling its cherry volume in the coming years following the execution of a business agreement with Conrad & Adams Fruit in Grandview, WA. “Conrad & Adams puts out one of the most outstanding packs in the state,” said Keith Horder, director of business development for L&M. “Conrad & Adams has tremendous capacity.”

Bob Mast, vice president of marketing for Columbia Marketing International in Wenatchee, WA, said the company stays on the cutting edge with its cherry supplies. “We’re pretty progressive here at CMI in terms of varieties,” he told The Produce News on May 10.

The company accounts for 10-12 percent of the Northwest’s annual cherry crop. Bings are the largest volume variety at 43 percent. Sweethearts account for 28 percent, and Rainiers — which Mr. Mast said continue to show slight growth — rank at 12 percent of the manifest. Additionally, CMI markets Chelans and Skeenas.