Idaho potatoes. Wisconsin cheese. Michigan tart cherries.
OK, cherries aren’t there yet. But cherry promoters now have the tool they need to push Michigan cherries into the every day vernacular of grocery shoppers.
“It’s like the M-22 sticker,” said Chris Bardenhagen, a Leland Township fruit grower and attorney for the Michigan Cherry Committee who did much of the legwork to create a “geographic indicator” (GI) to associate cherries with the Mitten State. “It’s a placebased connection … It can play a potentially important part in the future of cherries.” The GI designation could become a life raft that keeps cherry growers afloat until better times arrive. Low prices paid producers have pushed some to pull trees or sell orchards rather than lose money growing a fruit with an uncertain future. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has recognized a logo based on the phrase “Michigan Tart Cherries” and “Montmorency” as having the potential to become a geographic indicator. All that’s needed now for the industry to claim exclusive rights to the brand is to start attaching the label to products and using the slogan in promotions.
The process to establish a GI has been drawn out, said Julie Gordon, president of the Cherry Marketing Institute, in part because of over-reach. CMI does not operate in all tart cherry producing states, but still attempted to unite growers in 2021 with a nationwide designa- tion for Montmorency tart cherries that was denied.
Also, a market study abroad showed support for a Michigan over an U.S. designation.
“We asked, ‘Hey, we have this U.S. or Michigan tart cherry indicator, which one resonates with you?’” Gordon said. “Basically, CMI doesn’t have jurisdiction over all the producing states. Our consolation prize is for Michigan.”
Michigan is certainly qualifi ed as it produces 75% of all domestically grown tart cherries, and Leelanau and Oceana counties share the spotlight as the top tart counties in the state.
Montmorency is the most popular and resilient tart cherry variety.
The label, when it catches on, can keep bad actors in the food industry honest, Gordon continued. She’s especially disappointed with unsubstantiated use of the USDA organic label. She found a look-alike on an overseas marketing trip in a package of “dried cherries” selling for $1.
“I said there was no way that cost a dollar. It was cherry candy. It was literally candy,” Gordon said. The phrase “100% organic natural premium quality” was attached to the package next to an American flag.
Imported cherries that are combined with the domestic crop have also deflated domestic prices. The Michigan Tart Cherry label can sort out impersonators.
“Some Michigan processors are co-mingling with foreign product. It’s going to show in the end where cherries are grown, which is a very good thing for Michigan tart cherries,” said Gordon, who is also executive director of the Michigan Cherry Committee.
Bardenhagen is already working with three companies planning to use the designation. He’s hoping that the label becomes commonplace, with juice concentrate and dried cherries likely to be the first products promoted with the “Michigan Tart Cherries” and “Montmorency” logo.
“If they want to use the label, they have to go through a certifi cation process. They can’t label another cherry with that label. That should help (the industry). If we get behind the label, it should provide an incentive to use Michigan cherries,” he added.
The label has international ramifications as well because commerce agreements transcend borders among members of the World Trade Organization, Bardenhagen said. In that case, move beyond Vidalia onions to blue cheese aged near the small village of Roquefort, France.
Not all Michigan tart cherries will be produced in Michigan. The designation includes tarts from Door County, Wisconsin, which also credits the temperate influence of Lake Michigan for its cherry-producing prowess.
Bardenhagen’s message to consumers is to examine the packaging of cherry products.
“Look for the label. Then you know it’s Michigan cherries, Michigan growers, and it’s Montmorency. I hope it’s a win for the industry, but we’ve got to use it.
“It’s a fantastic tool, and the more we invest in that tool, the better.”
