The red dawn of BC sweet cherries

Jealous Fruits is the biggest single grower of sweet cherries in British Columbia with more than a thousand acres under cultivation. That’s a hefty share of BC’s 5,500 acre total.

“Our 2023 crop is expected to see a significant increase in production with a projected growth of 30 to 35 per cent compared to 2022,” reports Julie McLachlan, director of sales and marketing, Jealous Fruits.

“Our August flagship variety is Staccato,” she says. “Expect nothing short of perfection when it comes to flavour and texture.”

The Canadian Cherry Month Retail Toolkit will include readyto-use images as well as .ai files that can be customized to the retailers' brand guidelines, size requirements, and target audiences. Materials are available in both English and French. For a taste of the campaign, link to this video: https://rb.gy/ofgbf cherry growers are accustomed to shipping long distances so they’re more than confident that BC cherries will arrive at eastern markets in excellent shape.

The BC Cherry Association’s marketing agency is equally confident that retailers will welcome Canadian-grown cherries. Marketing materials matched with social media outreach have been developed for retailers, such as handling and cooling advice to be shared with staff.

The Grower is “Digging Deeper” with Sukhpaul Bal, president of the BC Cherry Association, and Richard Isaacs, chair of the BC Cherry Association market access committee.

Based in Kelowna, British Columbia, they share the background of how the first Canadian Cherry Month was conceived. This podcast is sponsored by Cohort Wholesale.

Regarding the launch of Canadian Cherry Month this summer, “This will not be a one-year wonder,” vows Isaacs, “We know that consistent messaging will be needed.”

Over a span of decades and geography, dedicated BC cherry growers have persevered to grow their sector to a 2022 farmgate value of $160 million. They are quite used to the long haul, in every sense of the word.