North American importer-distributor Oppy and Orchard View are celebrating both a 'fast-paced, top-quality' start to the cherry season,and their decade-long union.
“We are very proud to be celebrating our tenth year as the exclusive marketer of Orchard View cherries,” said James Milne, vice-president of marketing, categories and business development at Oppy. “We’ve established a strong partnership and it’s been a great fit because their season is only an eight-week window, they can capitalise on Oppy’s 52-week presence of meeting the top retailers in North America.”
With over 3,400 acres in The Dalles, Oregon, Orchard View’s dedicated focus is cherries, with the season peaking in late June through the third week of July.
“We choose the best varieties for the time and place,” said Brenda Thomas, Orchard View’s president. “Last year we installed new equipment to fine-tune the packing line. Furthermore, our focus during the past 12 months has been enhancing our efficiency, volume and quality in the orchard.”
Orchard View predicts around 1.3m boxes of cherries this year and is preparing for more growth in the future, despite the Northwest’s production being curtailed by fruit drop.
“Orchard View has always been known for growing varieties that have excellent quality for long distance export markets,' Milne continued. 'We’re looking forward to feedback from retailers in Canada and the US to the quality and size that these varieties bring on the domestic market,” he continued. “We will also start to see production of exciting new cherry varieties that will ramp up over the next five years.”
