The brand new 12 months kicked off with some new alignments within the Washington tree fruit business, following the closure of the Sage Fruit gross sales desk on the finish of 2024.
It’s yet one more signal of the challenges dealing with the tree fruit business.
Sage Fruit represented a partnership between vertically built-in fruit firms based mostly within the Yakima Valley: Legacy Fruit, Valicoff Fruit Co., Olympic Fruit and Congdon Orchards. In 2022, Chelan Fruit joined Sage Fruit.
Now, these firms are headed their separate methods.
Olympic Fruit and Congdon Orchards will be a part of Rainier Fruit, firm representatives confirmed.
“The grower-packers’ varietal mixes will completely praise Rainier’s menu, growing provide of consumer-favorite Honeycrisp and Cosmic Crisp apples in addition to the highest pear varietals,” in keeping with a press release from Rainier Fruit.
Legacy Fruit and Chelan Fruit, each owned by PNW Tree Fruit — Worldwide Farming’s umbrella firm for its orchard and warehouse operations within the Pacific Northwest — will be a part of CMI Orchards, in keeping with an organization consultant.
Valicoff Fruit didn’t return requests for remark.
Dean Gardner, a former govt at Legacy Fruit and a self-styled business watchdog who shares tree fruit information, developments and evaluation on LinkedIn, mentioned the Sage Fruit closure is an indication of the occasions because the business struggles with an apple oversupply and low returns.
“I’ve been a part of the Sage household for years, and it’s unhappy, extraordinarily unhappy,” he mentioned. “What it comes all the way down to is we develop too many apples right here. What’s killing all people as we speak is retailers are in a position to purchase most apples for under the price of manufacturing.”
Sadly, right-sizing the business necessitates eradicating orchards and closures of packing traces and gross sales desks, Gardner added.
“Till that occurs, this business goes to be in ache,” he mentioned.
—by Kate Prengaman
