Fruit dressed up for grocery store display

It would be hard to miss the display of locally grown cherries at Kalispell’s downtown Super 1 store.

A stand at the entrance to the produce department is filled with bags of sweet red cherries bearing a red-and-white stamp that says “Montana Flathead Lake Cherries: Grown in Montana’s Flathead Lake Valley by the Flathead Valley Cherry Growers.”

The cherries are surrounded by colorful boxes bearing Flathead Lake cherry logos, and a board similar to a sign at a roadside tourist attraction proudly explains the merits of Flathead Lake cherries, wrapping up with the proclamation:

“Many tourists plan their vacations each year to Montana to arrive when the cherries are ripe so they can experience them fresh from the trees.”

It’s the first year Super 1 has been part of a regional cherry-distribution program with Charlie’s Produce of Spokane. The cherries in the special packaging can be found in Super 1 grocery stores in the Flathead Valley and locations throughout Montana, Idaho and North Dakota.

The cherries sold at Super 1 this year were taken from the trees, hydrocooled and sent for packaging, winding up at the stores within two days of being picked.

“It’s a longer shelf life and customers get a premium product,” said Mark Mahan, produce manager at Super 1 in Kalispell. “Before we would get them from local growers in crates and customers would buy them in bulk. But they weren’t hydrocooled.

“These stems are still green,” he said, pointing at the stacked bundles. “And this is convenient for customers.”

Though the cherries are picked just a few miles south of Flathead Valley grocery stores, they have not previously been sold to local chain stores through the Flathead Valley Cherry Growers cooperative.

“It was all set up in advance for pricing and quantity,” co-op president Dale Nelson said. “That worked out really well for us.”

Nelson said estimates of this year’s crop are at a little over 2 million pounds.

“Some Lamberts were not picked because of some softness issues and rain damage,” he said. “We got maybe a third of our Lambert crop picked this year. The later cherries were all pretty much picked and shipped.”

After a hectic four weeks or so, the co-op’s cherry plant is pretty well packed up for the year.

Fresh cherries are expected to be available for a few more weeks, Nelson said.

“The price came back pretty strong, and we’ve got all of our late-season cherries picked and off to market,” he said. “It (the cherry season) comes on strong and finishes quick.”

Business reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.