Chukar Cherries—Grown Here, Made Here
Grown Here, Made Here
Our tagline “Grown Here, Made Here” isn’t a marketing ploy, it’s literal. Here’s what we mean.
We started Chukar in south-central Washington—an arid, agricultural region where orchards and vineyards role for miles upon miles. While the northern section grows Washington’s famous apples, our southern area is home to a variety of fruits such as cherries, peaches, apricots, blueberries, concord grapes, currents, and apples. Due to its unique soil profile and elevation, the Yakima Valley has also gained fame as a premier Washington wine grape region.
To this day our manufacturing factory and headquarters is in Prosser—the heart of this fertile region. Within our factory operations and under the watchful eye of the Chukar team, we dehydrate cherries and apples, handcraft our chocolate covered cherries, bake our granola, biscotti, and cherry pies, create our cherry & nut mix, cook our preserves, package our goodies and gifts, and fulfill orders every day. It’s fun and rewarding.
Over the years we’ve partnered with nearby family growers to provide cherries that meet our precise specifications. First, we require good quality fruit: medium in size, healthy, firm. Next, we need the grower to keep the cherries hanging on the tree a few weeks longer, thereby allowing the natural sugars and flavor to build.
When the farmer delivers the ripe cherries to the Chukar factory in early July, the fruit is cooled, washed, sorted, washed again, pitted, and dried slowly without preservatives in warm air tunnels. Our dehydrated cherries are then packaged for eating and cooking, paired with roasted nuts for healthy no sugar added energy snacks, and layered in premium chocolate for legendary cherry sweets.
