Chukar Cherries Dehydrates Record-Breaking 2025 Northwest Cherry Crop
August 18, 2025 | 2 min to read
In 2025, Washington State excelled in sweet cherry production, highlighted by Chukar Cherries dehydrating over 700,000 pounds for their popular treats. Investments in modern processing equipment, such as a new industrial sizer and larger de-stemmers, significantly boosted efficiency and production. With a commitment to local sourcing and zero-waste processing, the family-owned company exceeded its processing goals in just six weeks. To celebrate, Chukar is hosting a cherry-themed giveaway on social media.
Capital investments, an excellent harvest, and efficiency improvements contribute to success
Prosser, WA — Washington State is the nation’s leading producer of sweet cherries and 2025 was an excellent year. These delicate morsels travel from local orchards to the region’s array of fresh packing and juicing plants, as well as to Chukar Cherries—the state’s only commercial dehydrator of sweet cherries. This year, Chukar dehydrated over 700,000 pounds of Northwest cherries for their iconic cherry & chocolate treats, a record year for the 37-year old family-owned company.
Large investments in fruit processing equipment have been necessary to keep up with increased demand for Chukar’s all-natural Northwest treats. A 2024 purchase of a new industrial sizer “changed our whole production line,” says Tim Oten, Chukar Cherries General Manager. “Not only could fruit be sorted much faster and in larger quantities daily, but we were able to narrow down drying times to match the size of the cherry—down to the millimeter.” Cherry processing requires rinsing, de-stemming, sorting, pitting, laboratory testing, and dehydration in warm air tunnels. All the work is handled by a local workforce that nearly doubles each summer, working day and night.
To keep up with the speed of the new sizer, Chukar purchased two larger de-stemmers. The sizer also increased efficiency of the existing cherry pitters, which could then be tailored to match the cherry size for greater accuracy in pit removal. In 2024 Chukar also invested in an additional custom-built dehydrator for a total of three large-scale dehydrators at their headquarters, with plans to add more in the future.
Fresh cherry processing is central to the company’s operations: “We are committed to a local workforce, Northwest fruit, and zero-waste processing.” says Oten. Equipment investments, efficiency improvements, and an excellent cherry harvest with relatively stable weather allowed the company to exceed their processing goals in 6 weeks.
To celebrate a bountiful harvest, Chukar Cherries is partnering with Northwest Cherries on a giveaway of all things cherry. For entry details visit Chukar Cherries on Instagram or Facebook. Winners will be selected August 29th.
About Chukar Cherries
Transforming local cherries into Northwest gifts has been Chukar’s specialty since the company launched in 1988. Chukar’s specialties can be purchased at their factory headquarters in Prosser, Washington, at their store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market or shipped nationally at CHUKAR.COM.