PROSSER, Wash. — At the Chukar Cherries flagship store in Prosser, Pam Montgomery loves introducing Washington customers to the fruit in their own backyard.
"And when it's fresh there's nothing better," Pam said.
The story of Chukar Cherries begins back in 1984.
"Our young family moved to the Yakima Valley and purchased an eight-thousand tree cherry orchard," said Pam. "After the harvest, a few cherries were always left over and I noticed hanging on the branch, they increased in natural sugar and got better and better and that was the impetus."
Montgomery wanted to sell all natural dehydrated cherries, but agricultural experts said that was impossible without adding sugar. Montgomery went ahead anyway.
"My vision was always no preservatives, no added sugar," Pam said. "And then if you want something lush, dip it in the finest chocolate right? But don't add sugar to a fruit!"
She credits the growth of the business to the manufacturing prowess of her husband J.T. In turn, he credits Pam with being incredibly creative and refers to himself as simply the B.F.O., the boyfriend of owner.
From the hand-picked orchards outside Prosser, Chukar Cherries gets bins and bins of cherries.
"We begin the dehydration process, which puts them into a chiller," J.T. said. "We run them through a pitter, and then into the dehyrator. So it's about 2,000-to-3,000 pounds of dried cherries a day, which is essentially somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20,000 fresh cherries."
Many of the cherries are smothered in premium pastry chocolate.
"It's softer and has a better mouth feel, and more flavor," Pam said.
All of the products are packaged in a way that just makes them seem special.
On a recent visit to the Pike Place Market store , J.T. said he enjoyed hearing how Chukar products have become part of a holiday tradition for local families.
"It was so exciting to see people put a big grin on their face and give you a thumbs up when they taste it," J.T. said.
"One of the things that I've learned in my many years, is bringing joy is just a huge thing in your daily life and we can do that here, so it's just fun," Pam said.
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