The Fruit Growers News - February 2003


Ivan Taylor of Othello, Wash. has one of those “if-I’d-known-then-what-I-know-now” stories to tell. But he’s all smiles after launching “healing fruit” products into the yonder of supermarket distribution. Out by Basin City he was raising Montmorency cherries and sweet cherries and apples on 300 acres when, seven years ago, he decided to add value. He purchased what at the time was a vegetable seed cleaning facility in Othello. The place - he called it TPG Enterprises - also has a pie cherry sorting and pitting line that Taylor uses to make what the industry calls “5 plus 1 product.” The “5” and the “1” refer to the cherries/sugar ratio. This basic preprocessed tart cherry product gets shipped frozen in four-gallon pails to companies in the pie business, typically, although Taylor found a large fruit drying company in Utah where most of his Montmorency product goes. “They do millions of pounds of dried fruit down there,” he remarked. In terms of adding value, the “5 plus 1” business is working out but Taylor wanted to take further steps in sidling up to the consumer. He envisioned his own line of products, and for about a year now he’s got them: TPG Montmorency juice concentrate in pints and quarts that are labeled as the “All Natural Pain Reliever.” His products also include apple slices in nine retail packages ranging from a small two-ounce “polybag,” to a six-ounce clamshell and a 36-ounce tray. For the clamshells and the trays Taylor buys caramel cups from a company in Idaho. “The apple slices with the caramel dip are a real hit with teenagers. We sell to one of the supermarkets here in town, and I’ve stood there and watched high school kids scarf that stuff up – they love to dip their apple slices,” he said. In contrast, the “healing fruit” juice seems to be mainly an older people’s favorite. “Medicines for conditions like arthritis are very, very expensive,” Taylor noted. “What sells the Montmorency juice is that it’s 100 percent natural, and inexpensive. Once more people learn about it, I’m sure it will become a national seller. I really think this is another baby carrot (marketing success).” That he can claim pain relief characteristics for his cherries, specifically for sufferers of arthritis, gout, and fibromyalgia, is thanks to the Cherry Marketing Institute (CMI) in Lansing, Mich. CMI funded university research to ascertain the antioxidant levels in the Montmorency. His Montmorency cherries are processed to juice concentrate right in town at the SVZ plant. “The concentrate comes back to us in 50-gallon barrels; we bottle it here. It’s potent stuff, 68 brix and very high in acidity. If you mix it with milk it thickens like cherry pie. I’m fully behind this product, I know lots of people who swear by this stuff, although, I also know a few people who do not get the pain relief benefit from it. But the people who do, they’re hooked, it really works for them.” He believes his apple slices will claim shelf space quickly, because apples have always been regarded as keep-the-doctor-away healthy, and the trend is to consumer-ready goods, Taylor pointed out. “It’s the same story as cut lettuce,” he said. Realistically, the companies competing to fill the growing demand for apple slices and cherry concentrate are probably looking at regional potential, he acknowledged. And if it’s a company like his, coming at it from an added value standpoint, “the headaches and the expenses are something that you can’t even guess at when you’re starting out,” Taylor found. “The equipment is a big investment that doesn’t pay for itself until you reach a certain production level. And you need to figure out what appeals to the consumer, from the right kind of packaging to the right kind of solution – for good shelf life the apple slices are dipped in a solution of calcium and vitamin C. And then, when you have the product just right, then you get into the distribution headaches.” The up side? “The closer you are to the consumer, the more control you have,” he emphasized.