STOCKTON, Calif. – Getting cherries to overseas markets can be the pits.
Five years ago, fruit growers near this city in California’s central interior were frustrated at air carriers treating their perishable fruit as a low priority. Cherries would often be left to spoil for eight hours or more in 50 C heat on airport tarmacs. Then a group of five vegetable and fruit growers decided they’d had enough.
They struck a long-term deal with a nearby airport and built a 90,000 sq. foot packing plant beside it. Farmington Fresh is packing and selling apples and prepares other fruit for shipment.
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Bob Brocchini, one of the original growers, said he and his co-investors grew their own apples and owned their own packing plants for other types of fruits and vegetables. But they didn’t pack apples because no individual produced enough. By building a plant together, the farmer-investors could combine apple production making a plant feasible.
When choosing a site, the partners saw a chance to tie their plant to an underused airport in the area.
Eye on Japan
They could use the airport to ship cherries and other high-value fruits and vegetables to the prized market of Japan, and with the nearby plant they could ensure cold storage until the plane showed up.
“It’s less than an hour from the facility to taxiing on a plane to Japan,” Brocchini said. “We never break cold storage.”
There was a drawback, however. The airport’s runway was short for 747s: “We could land here, we just couldn’t get out fully loaded or fully fueled.” The airport is now extending the runway by 300 metres, to be ready in November.
Two loads of 81,000 kilograms of cherries were sent to Japan in 1996. In 1997, 12 charters were lined up but fell through because heavy rains in California affected the crop. The unused charters cost the producers almost $200,000 (U.S.).
The experiment left a sour taste for some of the growers, but “interest is back in again to put some cargo planes to ship back out (the fruit).”
They are also arranging to start shipping out lamb and beef from the airport to Japan. One load so far showed the advantage.
“It was (here) on the hoof on Monday, and flew out Saturday,” Brocchini said.
Prices influence what produce the growers send by plane. Low prices for some fruit make it more economical to send it by boat with a two to four-week shipping time.
But Brocchini favors planes: “You pay extra for it, but you have to prove you can do the job they (customers) want you to do.”
