Despite spates of cool, wet weather, which can give the Northwest cherry industry reason to suffer a little heartburn, Rainier Fruit Co. has moved into June and the beginning of its 2013 cherry season on a positive note. “We’ve had a fairly warm spring, which led to good crop development,” Director of Marketing Suzanne Wolter told The Produce News. “In the earliest blooming districts, we did get some frost damage, and a few areas experienced less-than-stellar pollination conditions, which could result in somewhat lighter supplies right out of the gate. Overall, though, the weather patterns this spring lead us to believe we’ll have an exceptional quality crop.”

The company is located in Yakima, WA, and is one of Washington’s leading tree fruit grower-shipper-packers. Rainier’s cherry orchard acreage has remained stable during the past few years, and trees that are maturing continue to boost the company’s overall tonnage.

“2012 was a record crop year,” Wolter stated. “We expect this season to be more ‘normal’ and therefore slightly smaller than last year.

Rainier Fruit Co. saw minimal weather-related damage to its 2013 Northwest cherries. Although volume will be lower than it was for the 2012 record crop, it is expected to be on par with a normal crop year. The harvest is expected to begin in early to mid-June and conclude in mid-August. (Photo courtesy of Rainier Fruit Co.)Reports from the field are encouraging. Wolter said the harvest will begin during early to mid-June, roughly one week ahead of timetables during 2012. “We’ll have plenty of volume available for Fourth of July ads, but expect demand to be strong also with California finishing up about the same time and not a lot of overlap between the two areas,” she noted.

The company produces both conventional and organic dark sweet cherries as well as the Rainier cherry, which continues to grow in popularity among consumers. Cherry production is expected to conclude in mid-August. Wolter said it is important to recognize that higher-elevation and later-maturing varieties have elongated the cherry season over the past few years.

Rainier has implemented a number of facilities improvements allowing the company to market the highest-quality product possible. “Our ultimate goal during cherry season is to deliver green-stemmed cherries to the consumer’s home. In order to do so, it’s imperative to have strong, healthy fruit off the tree, begin the cooling process in the orchard and maintain the cold chain through the entire handling process,” Wolter stated.

The company markets cherries under the “RAINIER” brand to its domestic customers, and under a variety of labels for its export customers. Rainier plans to introduce new packaging this season. “We will launch a high-graphic handled gusseted or stand-up bag in order to capture the impulse nature of cherry purchases,” Wolter said. “We tested a bag last year in a few locations to positive response and intend to make it much more widely available this year. Our larger-size fruit will go into these bags with the smaller sizes going into a traditional bag as our value item.

“Continuing the expansion of our new Organic Rainier design across all commodities, we will be introducing a new design on our organic cherry and blueberry boxes,” she added.