While it only takes a day or two for Lodi Bloom cherries to arrive at your doorstep, this year’s harvest is over a century in the making.
In 1912, the Chinchiolo family immigrated from Sicily Italy to Boston through Ellis Island. In 1918, Chinchiolo Fruit Company was born, producing grapes, figs, celery, pears and cherries.
“They started in the grape industry, making wine, and over time, as smart business people would do, they sent family members out to California to grow grapes to export from California, import into Boston, and make wine there with their own grapes,” James P. Chinchiolo, pictured left, a fourth generation farmer in Lodi, said.
Chinchiolo’s grandfather Francis James Chinchiolo was a pioneer in the cherry industry and flew with a group of entrepreneurs to Japan in the 1980s. They began exporting fresh California cherries to Japan via plane.
The business continued to grow, controlling approximately 25% of the California cherry industry, but the Chinchiolos decided to restructure in 2003. Chichiolo’s father, Thomas P. Chinchiolo, passed the farm to him in 2018, but they still work together producing walnuts and cherries.
“With our cherries it was very clear to me that the specialty nature of cherries and the romance and this idea of just an absolutely great eating experience was kind of dying away, and cherries were being commoditized,” Chinchiolo said. “I wanted to preserve what I remember cherries being like, and in doing so, decided, you know what, I want to send these cherries directly to consumers, just as if the cherries were still on the tree.”
Chinchiolo describes the period where he, his father and grandfather all worked together on the farm as a special time in his life.
“I’m able to work with my dad, and there’s oftentimes challenges that come up and it’s just super cool to be able to say, ‘Hey, Dad, we need your wisdom here. What do you think? I’m out of answers,” Chinchiolo said. “Oftentimes, his answers are not necessarily the answers that I want to hear, but they’re the right answers.”
Locking in a signature flavor
The reassurance and insight are crucial as Lodi Blooms navigates challenges such as crop failures due to rain or frost. Chinchiolo says the feedback from customers makes the long days worth it.
“We received a review last year that said, ‘We can taste the care in the cherries that you send to us,’” Chinchiolo said. “When I’m out there, and I’m directing my guys, and I’m making the decisions that I’m making, there’s a tremendous amount of care that goes into that. To know that the care that I put into the cherries is appreciated and recognized is fantastic.”
Chinchiolo’s palette is one of the deciding factors in flavor and varieties sold on his farm, but the decision is also personal.
“When I was dating my wife, of course, my girlfriend at the time, there was a type of a box of cherries that I would bring her, and that’s the quality that I always try to maintain,” Chinchiolo said. “I imagine myself, when I was dating her, would I be proud to give my wife this box? That standard is not lessened now that she’s my wife. When I bring a box of cherries into the house, it’s the premium box — and that’s what I’m trying to replicate over and over to our customers.”
From farm to FedEx
Once cherries are ripe, it is a race against time to get them in consumer’s picnic baskets at their peak freshness and flavor.
“Cherries don’t continue to ripen once they’re taken off the tree,” Chinchiolo said. “They’re not like a banana, they’re not like an avocado, so the key is you need to pick the cherry when it’s ripe on the tree, and because the cherry is a living piece of fruit, it’s metabolizing.”
The best way to keep cherries ripe? Cool them down. Chinchiolo and his crews start early in the morning when the pulp temperature is cold. Onwards to the packing line.
Cherries arrive from the field and are placed in protective shade.
Orchard debris such as leaves and sticks are removed as cherries go up an elevator and are hydro-cooled.
Next up is the cluster cutter that “singulates” the cherries. Then they go through roller sizes, which allows for smaller fruit to drop and be eliminated from shipments.
The large cherries continue into the hydrocooler for about roughly five minutes and then move onto a conveyor for hand sorting. Each cherry is inspected and carefully placed into a box.
The box then travels down onto a packing table.
“Those cherries are introduced into the final box that has the coolant in it, insulation is wrapped around the box, and then we have our master shipping box that’s taped up, a label is placed on, put it on a pallet,” Chinchiolo said. “And then that afternoon courier comes like FedEx and will load directly into the back of the truck.”
Looking for a box?
This year’s varieties include Bing, Organic Bing, Lapin, Coral Champagne, and Epic 16. Due to the bout of early warm weather in March and recent rain in the region the cherry season moved up.
Cherry trees typically bloom in mid-March and start picking mid-May. This year the season lines up nicely with Memorial Day and the kickoff of summer James P. Chinchiolo said.
Memorial Day weekend is your last chance to pick cherries at Lodi Blooms this year.