Marketing Michigan Fruit

Marketing Michigan Fruit. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Don Armock is with Riveridge Produce out of Sparta, Michigan, the other big apple producing region of the U.S. and he took some time to chat with fruit growers about their industry and the marketing of apples.

ARMOCK: In Michigan, most of the apples-cherries are grown on the western side of the state on the Lake Michigan shoreline. And it basically travels the extent of the coastline from Chicago to the top of the lower peninsula. A real concentration in the Grand Rapids area called the Ridge area

He says they have created their own style of marketing.

ARMOCK: Part of how we go to market is we try to give an identity to who we are. So we talk about family farms, we talk about 4, 5 and 6 generations involved in production. We give an identity. We provide photos and family histories to customers that we deal with. This gets a lot of play particularly in a 4 or 5 state region around Michigan.

Compared to Washington apple production, Armock says they are significantly smaller producers but they are also into other commodities.

ARMOCK: Cherries is one and you’ll see in every photo there’s children and that’s because we’re involved in a “pick your own” operation soon to evolve into a farm market type operation also. So this is a lot of fun seeing people come out and see what happens at farm level and getting not only the opportunity to get fresh fruit but also the entertainment value that comes along with all of that.

More tomorrow on our look at Michigan fruit marketing.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.