Behind the Scenes: Cherry Processing
Did you know that Chukar Cherries handles all of our own manufacturing? From the cleaning of freshly picked cherries to drying and chocolate coating, to the packaging and shipping, we do it all in our Prosser, WA headquarters.
We believe that keeping a close eye on every step allows us to maintain a standard of quality and freshness that sets our products apart.
From day one since Chukar's beginning in 1988, founder Pam Montgomery knew that growing and personally monitoring the quality of the fresh cherries coming in would make a notable impact on the flavor and size of the final product. In fact, over the years, we've had farmers refuse to work with us because we were too discerning on cherry size, quality, and wholeness. True story!
Today we partner with the best local cherry growers to provide cherries that meet our precise specifications. First, we require excellent quality fruit that is medium in size, healthy, and firm. Next, we ask the grower to keep the cherries ripening on the tree a few weeks longer, thereby allowing the natural sugars and flavor to build.
Our fresh Washington sweet cherries are picked at peak ripeness - even after fresh cherries intended for grocery stores - and brought to our production facility and headquarters in Prosser, WA. Because the cherries are so ripe, they must be processed immediately.
If you've ever purchased sweet cherries at the grocery store, you are likely aware that they need to be consumed quickly. Sweet cherries also have a short growing season, with its peak sometimes lasting a matter of weeks. Similarly, during harvest season, we work quickly to ensure that the cherries' freshness and flavor is optimal.
When our farmers deliver ripe cherries to the Chukar factory in early July, the fruit is immediately cooled, washed, sorted, washed again, and pitted.
The cleaned sweet cherries now have one of two destinies: they are used in our jarred cherry specialties such as Pie Filling and Cherry Preserves or they are naturally dried to be sold as Dried Cherries or our world-famous Chocolate Cherries.
The cherry drying process is the cornerstone of Chukar Cherries' quality and has been the driving force of founder Pam Montgomery's original vision to offer dried Northwest cherries made without preservatives, oils, sugar, or anything artificial. As in 1988, this vision is upheld today across our entire product line.
Fresh cherries are gently dehydrated in our custom-built air tunnels. Slowly drying the cherries allows them to retain moisture, nutrients, and flavor. Our dried cherries are then packaged for eating and cooking, paired with roasted nuts for healthy no sugar added snacks, and layered in premium chocolate.
Dried cherries are taken to our in-house "Chocolate Room" where we keep six old fashioned copper kettles. The kettles spin and toss the chocolates as an operator gently drizzles chocolate by hand. Using European style chocolate in a variety of signature blends allows us to create delicious flavor combinations, such as dark chocolate Black Forest Cherries or white and milk chocolate Cherry Blossoms.
Next, the freshly coated chocolate cherries are set on trays to dry. The cherries are weighed and sorted using factory equipment that is meticulously cleaned every day.
The chocolate cherries are now ready to be packaged! Chocolates are placed into resealable zip bags or sold in Assortment Boxes. All of our chocolate cherries are made within two weeks of shipping to ensure freshness.
We invite you to Visit Chukar our Prosser, WA headquarters to sample our freshly made treats. The pandemic unfortunately paused our factory tours, but we hope to be making them available again soon. If you have any questions about our process, we'd love to hear from you!
