Tried a Chukar Cherry? Celebrating 35-Years In Prosser

This is a special year for Prosser's Chukar Cherries as the company celebrates 35-years in business. The company started in 1988 at the same location you'll find the company today at the Port of Benton Prosser Airport Business Park in Prosser, WA.

FROM ORCHARD TO A FAMILY MEMBER DISCOVERING TASTY DRIED CHERRIES

In fact a press release says Chukar was the Business Park’s first tenant.
You can thank Pam Montgomery who used cherries from her family orchard to make the first Chukar Cherries finding they dried naturally without needing sugar. It was the start of a lifelong passion for the family of cherry growers. It didn't take long before Montgomery thought about turning the dried cherries into a business.

THE COMPANY STARTED IN 1988 IN THE SAME PLACE IT'S TODAY

Company officials say the "prospect was daunting" as they developed a manufacturing kitchen, warehouse storage, offices, break rooms, and a storefront in Prosser to sell the tasty cherries. Montgomery developed a business plan that Port of Benton Commissioners approved in the summer of 1988 and Chukar Cherry Company, Inc. was launched. Officials say since then it's been a huge success.

HUNDREDS OF POUNDS OF CHERRIES ARE PROCESSED EACH YEAR

Today, 35-years later the company has 60 full-time employees who call Prosser home. They work to process some 500,000 pounds of cherries every year as they juicy cherries are turned into "chocolate-covered cherries, no sugar added dried cherry and nut mixes, Northwest cherry gifts, and more."
You'll find Chukar Cherries all over the state including at Seattle's Pike Place Market where they've been selling since the mid 1990's. For more information check the website https://www.chukar.com

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