Helping sweet cherries survive the long haul
A new study says that cherry producers need to understand new intricacies of the production-harvest-marketing continuum in order to successfully move sweet cherries from growers to end consumers. For example, the Canadian sweet cherry industry has had to modify logistics strategies—from shorter truck or air shipping to long-distance containerized shipping—to accommodate burgeoning export markets. Keeping cherries fresh and consumer-ready during long ocean crossings challenges producers to find new ways to retain fruit quality for weeks. Peter M.A. Toivonen, of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, says that cooling of sweet cherries is an important practice to ensure delivery of good quality at the market place.