Cherries are sweet business for Okanagan fruit growers.
The lucrative fruit yields high prices from international consumers, but shipping cherries overseas is a high stakes game.
Every container shipped to Asian markets carries up to $100,000 worth of fruit.
Maintaining quality is paramount.
That’s where the Summerland Research and Development Centre comes in.
“The B.C. cherry industry has quite a good reputation and we ship fruit all over the world, so we want to keep that quality high,” said research technician Brenda Lannard with the Postharvest Physiology program.
Researchers are developing a device that measures the quality of the fruit while it still hangs on the tree.
“We’re looking to wow our customers with our born in B.C. kind of flavour,” said research scientist Dr. Peter Toivonen.
The device is called an optical spectrometer. It works by emitting light on the surface of the fruit and analyzing the sugar content.
The data is sent to a smartphone app and provides a ranking; poor to excellent.
“You can start to understand what part of the orchard you should be harvesting first,” Toivonen said.
WATCH BELOW: Eighty per cent of the world’s cherries originate in Summerland
Researchers say growers could see a 10-20 per cent increase in returns due to improved quality control.
“People who know that they are going to get good quality are going to pay you a premium price for your product,” he said.
Toivonen said growers are eager to get their hands on the device.
“There is a lot of excitement, I’m getting calls all of the time right now.”
However, they will have to wait until at least next summer.
The scientists say after years of research, getting the device in the hands of orchardists will be the cherry on top.
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