YAKIMA, WA - Just in time for the record apple crop this year, Washington Fruit & Produce is expanding its operations with a new 300,000 square foot apple packing facility at its River Road property in Yakima, WA. The new facility is part of a large, long-range expansion that also includes CA storage, cherry packing and shipping facilities, as well as a new onsite headquarters as of October 2015.
“We’re adding more packing capacity to handle our future growth and to ensure that we’re on the cutting edge of packing technology, not just with fruit quality in mind but food safety as well,” said Tommy Hanses, Operations Manager. “We’ve been running 20 hours a day, seven days a week on our existing line and want to maintain our ability to pack the crop to our customers’ exacting standards in future years.”
The new apple line is said to finish construction by December 2015, according to a press release. As a result of the heavy demand on packing and shipping this year, Hanses says the facility comes at a time when the company is continuing to ramp up its production.
“We’re planting more acreage of higher yielding varieties every year so we’re expecting more production coming on line as a result,” said Hanses.
Sounds like it’s been an exciting season for apple growers. Congrats on this latest addition, Washington Fruit & Produce!
