Cherry charters in decline amid Pacific Northwest heat wave

Unpredictable weather and the COVID-19 pandemic are causing some forwarders to hesitate before scheduling cherry charters this year. The combination of a virus-weakened economy and the recent heat wave in the Pacific Northwest have made the fruit charters less profitable than in years past, according to Mas Nishimoto, manager of business development at Apex Logistics International. [caption id="attachment_96190" align="alignright" width="450"] © Can Stock Photo / devon[/caption] “[Charters] are becoming harder to come by,” Nishimoto said. Last year, rain made it difficult to effectively maximize cherry charters. “Weather always plays a risk factor when talking about cherry exports. This year, Apex Logistics International chose to stay away from the cherry charters due to the pandemic; instead we focused more on our regular customer base.” When charters coming into the U.S. have capacity available on the return route, the risks of relying on cherry exports are offset, said Nishimoto, making the cherry charters a safer option for forwarders. At the moment, Apex’s charters in both directions are fully booked, creating little incentive for the forwarder to plan around this year’s uncertain cherry harvest. While COVID protocols at harvesting sites, packing facilities and airports allow cherry shipments to avoid many of the pandemic-related difficulties affecting last year’s harvest, COVID is still having an impact, according to Nishimoto. “Due to the pandemic, the cherry demand is quite low over previous years. Some countries are not consuming any imported goods,” he said. Capacity constraints are an additional issue on certain routes, according to Nishimoto. “Space was a concern for Southeast Asia destinations, but not so difficult for Japan or Korea. The more challenging [San Francisco] SFO and [Seattle] SEA origin routes were exported via Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), where lift has been more available.” SEA was able to confirm to Air Cargo World they have not seen the customary influx of cherry charters from the airport this season, although they have seen an uptick in scheduled services connecting Asia to the Pacific Northwest. “We are seeing a steady volume of Asian carriers flying passenger aircraft carrying cargo only, [also known as] ‘preighters,’” an airport representative said. “This has expanded the belly capacity available on the routes flown, such as Incheon International Airport (ICN), Narita International Airport (NRT), and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG).” While it remains too early to say how this year’s cherry exports will compare to those of previous years in terms of volume, both Nishimoto and SEA agreed the heat wave would likely be a significant factor. “The recent unprecedented heat has not impacted airport operations in particular, but it is common to see drops in production from the growers in Eastern Washington, related to the availability and productivity of the pickers,” the airport said. “This will tend to decrease the tonnage passing through the airport, and can cause flight cancellations if the drop-off is significant enough.” The Northwest Cherry Growers, a state agency that is a division of the Washington State Fruit Association, could not be reached for comment on how the heat wave might affect the tonnage of this year’s cherry harvest. However, the record heat has become extreme enough that cell division has ground to a halt in some of the fruits, making them unable to reach their full size, Nishimoto said. “This complication, known as ‘crop stress,’ is transferred over to the air carrier, resulting in a last-minute loss in our allocation,” he added. “The heat wave ultimately will not end the season, but does slow everything down and reduces the crop size, its quality and overall yields with a shortage in the number of boxes packed out,” Nishimoto said.

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