Morada Produce Co. executive Michael Jameson said the key to this year’s California cherry deal is to get the entire industry — both shippers and retailers — to throw away their historical data and start promoting the crop 10 days earlier than normal.

The crop is heavy and early and he said the supplier community has to price the crop right out of the shoot at an f.o.b. price that will stimulate sales and the retailers have to put those cherries on ad a week to 10 days earlier than normal. Typically, the California cherry crop has begun shipments in early May with volume and ads coming in close proximity to the second week of the month. This year, shipments are going to start around April 20 and Jameson said the crop will be ready for promotions and ad pricing by about the first of May. He said the week running up to Mother’s Day on May 8 is going to be perfect for promotions.

“The last thing we need is a slow start with prices too high that cause inventories to bunch up,” said Morada’s director of sales and marketing.

Jameson predicted the total crop would be in the neighborhood of eight million cartons this year. Taking a quick look at previous data, he said that would make it about the fourth largest crop in the past dozen years.

So, if those numbers pan out, it will be a large crop but not unprecedented in any way. He also predicted that there would be a gap between California’s production and that from the Northwest.

“It looks to be a good crop of Corals and Brooks, average for Tulare and a little light on Bings… especially the late season Bings,” he noted.

If that plays out, California should be finishing up in early June, a few days before the Northwest starts packing.

To help move this early crop, Jameson said the export market has to play a significant role. He said sales to Korea have exploded in recent years, which is fortuitous because, at the same time, sales to Japan have declined.

“We’d like to see Japan get back to its heyday of five, six, seven, 10 years ago. If we could combine that with what Korea’s been doing, we’d be in very good shape.”

Specifically speaking of Linden, CA-based Morada, Jameson said this off-season the firm installed a brand new packing line designed from start to finish by Unitec, which adds capacity and efficiency, and should result in a better pack. He said the optical sorters do an excellent job of sorting for color, defects and size, which results in a better, more consistent pack. That addition, which replaces a smaller automated system, will give Morada a 60-lane system to keep up with its volume during the peak of the season.

He anticipates no changes in pack styles and sizes though the pouch bag continues to gain devotees. “Retailers are looking for a clearer bag with a small amount of graphics that lets the cherries sell themselves,” he said.

Speaking during the first week of April and seeing the forecast of rain for later in the week, Jameson was hopeful that the early cherry orchards would be spared.

He said if rain hit the later-maturing Bings at this point in time, it would do very little or no damage, but he was wary of a rainstorm hitting the more southern growing areas of the San Joaquin Valley that will produce the first cherries of the season. But Jameson would not presuppose the outcome of such a rain.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I’ve seen a little bit of rain do a lot of damage and a big rain do no damage at all. It all depends what stage the crop is in when it hits, where it’s located, soil type and a lot of other factors.”