“They were some of the best cherries I’d ever had,” she says. “They were gone in less than two days at my house. That’s why I would buy them again. That’s why I’m waiting for the website to open up so I can pre-buy my cherries.” Fourth-generation farmer James Chinchiolo, who runs the Lodi-based farm, is working to reach more people like White—U.S. customers who are willing to pay a premium for what produce marketers call “export- quality” fruit. Instead of shipping those cherries to foreign markets—which pay top dollar for them—he’s setting aside some of the farm’s exportable cherries and delivering them directly to people’s doorsteps. “We’re providing the premium product that I’m accustomed to, that we know is here, but oftentimes, it gets exported to other markets,” Chinchiolo says.
Pivot to direct sales Nearly 30% of the state’s cherry crop is shipped—or, more accurately, flown—all over the world, with Canada, South Korea, Mexico and Japan being leading export destinations, according to the California Cherry Board. That’s about 2.8 million 18-pound cartons of the stone fruit last year. Domestically, the Golden State remains the largest market for California cherries, gobbling up some 1.4 million cartons last year. Other top U.S. markets include New York, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania. Chinchiolo says the idea for his direct-to-consumer business spawned during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 when logistics challenges and supply chain disruptions led to concerns about whether airlines would be able to fly the highly perishable fruit to places such as
Angel Moreno harvests cherries from Chinchiolo Farming Co., which packs and ships the fruit on the same day to customers across the country.
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Spring 2024
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