While Canada's cherry harvest is still about six weeks away, growers are busy preparing for the upcoming season. The increase in demand for Canadian cherries has meant that updated and new technologies are being brought into the industry. British Columbia-based Jealous Fruits is in the midst of constructing new facilities that are designed to not only substantially increase capacity, but also take advantage of the latest available technologies.
"One of our current projects is the construction of our new packing facility," said Julie McLachlan of Jealous Fruits. "We are pleased to share that the new receiving and shipping cooler will be fully operational ahead of this upcoming season. The remainder of the new facility will be ready by the 2020 cherry season. Our new facility will feature a 26 lane UNITEC and will feature the latest Unitec optical sorter - 'Cherry Vision 3.0'. Jealous Fruits is anticipating a big increase in volume over the next few years."
It's not just the packing line where upgrades are coming, with the company looking into robotic palletizers in the near future. "We are also looking to go to robotic palletizing which will represent a significant upgrade in efficiency and cost reduction for the long term," McLachlan explained.
Blossom just finishing up in Canada
The cherry trees have just finished blossoming in British Columbia and so far, the crop is looking good despite growers experiencing some cold nights during the bloom. Harvesting of the early varieties is expected to commence the first week of July, with an increase in volume expected from the middle of July. McLachlan also noted that the season should be spaced out evenly.
"The first two weeks of our cherry harvest comprises of early varieties that represent a small percentage of our overall volume," she said. "From about July 17 until the end of August, beginning of September, we will have our main harvest and are expecting consistent daily volumes. So far, things are looking really good. We have set a nice crop which will be evenly spaced. During the bloom we had a few cold nights, but we used helicopters and wind machines to aggressively fight against it. This was successful and resulted in avoiding any significant losses."
"We are anticipating an increase in volume this year, with the two varieties experiencing the biggest increase being Regina and Staccato," McLachlan added.
The ongoing trade war between the United States and China has resulted in China imposing a heavy increase in tariffs on US-grown fruits and vegetables, including cherries. This has the potential to generate more business for Canadian growers and some are already seeing an increase in interest from China. However, it should be noted that production and marketing windows still come into play and Chinese buyers might still adhere to existing programs. Additionally, growers like Jealous Fruits have customers in many countries all around the world and will be making sure all of them will be looked after in terms of cherry supplies.
"Chinese interest is there and we are seeing an increase in demand because it certainly appears as though the tariff situation between the US and China will not sort itself out in time for the Washington cherry season," McLachlan explained. "However, we were faced with similar conditions last year when Washington growers also had to deal with increased tariffs. The important thing to note is that we are geographically diverse and export cherries to many countries. Our continued focus is to support all of our customers in each market."
