Dried Cherries Following in the Grape’s Ancient Footsteps

CHERRY DE-LITE TOOK A SUGGESTION AND RAN WITH IT
 

“Somebody asked me why nobody dried fruit in Door County.” — Mike Johnson, owner Country Ovens

It seems ridiculous in a way that it took so long for a product so popular and rich in history as the raisin to be commercially duplicated.

As we all know, the raisin is a dried grape with a lineage that dates back some 4,000 years, well before the marketing bonanza spurred by the animated singing group, the California Raisins.

Actually, the Phoenicians are credited with purposely producing the product as far back as 900 B.C., but it would take some 2,000 years before the Mediterranean fruit would make its way northward in Europe, delivered by the knights returning from the crusades. The only other dried fruit with as extensive a history are dates.

Even the history of the raisin in America goes back to 1851, although legend has it that California’s first crop was grown by nature and not by farmers when a severe heat wave hit the San Joaquin Valley in the 1870s and dried the grapes on the vines before they could be picked.

Since then the raisin has dominated the American dried-fruit market and really still does accounting for well over half of the market. But in a little corner of Wisconsin, another dried fruit has taken hold thanks to a little company located in a little town just inside the Door County line. 

Anyone familiar with Door County can already identify the fruit. Wisconsin’s Cherryland didn’t get its moniker on whim, having been the site of some of the largest cherry orchards in the county in the middle of the 20th century.

From a peak of 10,000 acres, cherry orchard acreage has declined since then, but enough remain to lure visitors to see the stunning blossoms in the late May. Even more come in July to patronize the many pick-your-own stands up and down the peninsula. They can be found at the Wisconsin Cherry Growers website (wisconsincherrygrowers.org).

Commercial operations continue in the county, the largest of which is Seaquist Orchards based out of Sister Bay, where you also find its market. It is Seaquist’s Door County-grown cherries that find their way south to Country Ovens in Forestville to become one of the most recognizable cherry brands in the state with an ever-expanding market.

Riding the wave of the health benefits associated with dried fruits and an effort by the University of Wisconsin Extension to diversify agriculture on the peninsula, a fourth-generation dairy farmer followed their lead and the suggestion of a friend and introduced a product known as Cherry De-Lite dried cherries.

“Somebody asked me why nobody dried fruit in Door County,” said Mike Johnson, who took the suggestion seriously. “So I went to the grocery store and purchased 10 pounds of cherries and brought them home and put them in a Ronco dehydrator, and it took off from there.”

Johnson probably didn’t realize it at the time, but he was on the cusp of the dried fruit craze, especially cherries, when he launched his business in 1987. It had only been a decade earlier when a team of food scientists at Utah State University first experimented with drying a Montmorency tart cherry, which is the predominant variety grown on the peninsula.

“At first we thought we were the only ones drying (the fruit),” admitted Johnson, who launched the company with his wife, Kathy. “Later I discovered they had recently launched fruit drying operations in Michigan.”

But Johnson had an ace in hole, one that helped launch the product and sustain it over the years.

“We saw it as a snack-food item that we could sell to the tourists,” he explained. Door County’s cherries were already a hot commodity among visitors, but a packaged product that retained its freshness and could be used in a variety of recipes proved to be even more attractive.

“I don’t think we could have done this anywhere else but Door County,” admits Johnson. “At first Door County was our marketing agency. We continue to be very fortunate for the tourist trade. Folks have gone home and wanted to find the product in their stores. Many times we’ve received calls from store managers.”

Country Ovens quickly moved through the home-dehydrator phase, repeatedly doubling what had been 10,000 pounds of dried cherries in the first year in each of the next few years.

The company not only locally sources its cherries, but it address s the growing dehydration problem by going to Sturgeon Bay-based Therma-Tron-X to build an industrial unit that had been designed by one of Johnson’s friends.

Being a relatively new product, there was a learning curve for both Johnson and his customers. It’s probably interesting to note at this point that it would be six years later in 1993 when Ocean Spray would introduce Craisins, its dried cranberry product.

“We didn’t have a vision,” Johnson now admits. “We simply wanted to make a good product and see what happened.”

A byproduct of Country Oven’s success was the volume of juice that was being produced from all these dried cherries.

“At first we sent the juice to local wineries in five-gallon containers,” said Johnson, who eventually had so much that he was forced to put hundreds of barrels in cold storage.

So, a cherry drink followed in 2001, and while the health benefits of cherries were already being promoted through the dried cherry product, it was even more marketable through the juice products. The fruit is loaded with many antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Now one has the choice to eat a bag of dried cherries or sip the drink to gain the benefits derived from the Montmorency Cherry.

And although Country Ovens first introduced a sweetened version of the drink to attain a broader appeal, the company enhanced its appeal to an ever-increasing number of health-conscious consumers with a pure 100 percent product in 2010.

But to prevent a situation of the tail wagging the dog, Johnson must continue to market and sell his dried cherries.

“You don’t get your juice without selling cherries,” said Johnson. “Cherries are still the biggest part of the business.”

And one other ingredient has helped assure that – chocolate. Cherries and chocolates have long been an irresistible combination and, whether covered with milk chocolate or the more fashionable dark chocolate, the dried cherry continues to fly out the Forestville facility to feed the expanding juice-product line.

Jumping full on into the nutritional craze, Country Ovens introduced a product to pair with the 100 percent pure product a few years later when it teamed up with the University of Wisconsin to create a Red Whey.

The drink is a blend of tart cherry juice and whey and represents a collaboration between the UW-Madison Athletic Department, the Wisconsin Center of Dairy Research (CDR) and Country Ovens.

“We knew we wanted to develop a natural, nutritious recovery drink for our student athletes,” said Algoma native John Dettmann, director of performance at the university, “and with CDR less than five minutes away (in Madison), we were happy to have an opportunity to collaborate with someone on the UW campus.”

Cherry juice, with its high level of antioxidants, may assist in reducing post-exercise muscle and joint pain. Whey, a byproduct of the cheesemaking process, is a key protein ingredient since it contains the highest amount of essential amino acids found in foods.

Packaged together the 100 percent cherry juice labeled Rapid Red and pure cherry juice and whey, Rapid Whey, a whole new market has opened up for Johnson in college campuses around the country as well as other exercise and athletic outlets.

“But the great thing about cherries is that they can benefit all ages, active and inactive,” said Johnson.

As to the growth and success of his own company, Johnson defers to his employees in his Forestville plant and the cooperation he’s received from growers in developing a new market for their cherries.

“But somebody was watching over us as we made some good decisions,” he said.