<p>Chelan Fresh Marketing is putting to rest any doubts on promotable volumes and quality of peak-season reds despite diminished production of some of the Northwest’s early cherries due to weather conditions.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“We are now shipping beautiful fruit, and some of our very best cherries are still to come,” said Mac Riggan, Chelan Fresh Director of Marketing, on July 9.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“This is a great year to build demand,” Riggan continued. “We will see good cherries from this point on. Our estimated total production is 2.4 to 2.5 million boxes, and we’re not halfway through our season yet.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Chelan Fresh is working with retail partners on special ads and providing free secondary display bins to promote the fruit that Riggan said are known to generate additional sales for stores that use them.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>General Sales Manager Tim Evans echoed Riggan’s enthusiasm for 2013 cherries. “Our season is very good and getting better,” he said.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Produce departments are receiving the Bing and dark red varieties in 18-24-pound boxes of catch-weight bags. Evans said that new state-of-the-art electronic sizing and defect sorting lines further ensure excellent quality cherries on arrival.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Consumer feedback received by Chelan Fresh Marketing Coordinator Kathryn Grandy in early July included a note from the nation’s midsection, where an appreciative cherry fan said a recent purchase had a particularly high ratio of excellent fruit. The consumer advised Chelan Fresh to “keep up the good work.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.chelanfresh.com/" target="_new">Chelan Fresh</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
