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.
