The much-anticipated cherry season is back again in full swing to satiate your cravings. Small but mighty, this brightly coloured power fruit is truly unlike any other. The “Cherish the Moments” campaign was launched today by the Northwest Cherry Growers to mark the start of the harvest season which is expected to run all the way up to mid-August.
Staying true to its meaning, the “Cherish the Moments” campaign aims to encourage the public to cherish precious moments with loved ones while devouring this highly nutritional and flavourful fruit. From bringing comfort to soothing the soul, this fruit can be enjoyed with friends and family for any occasion including birthdays, get-togethers or even picnics.
Aside from its great burst of flavour, cherries are also known as the “Diamond of Fruit” because of its nutritional value. Cherries have high content of potassium, Vitamin C and anti-inflammatory properties that helps in preventing or reducing the risk or severity of several chronic inflammatory diseases. They are also low in glycemic, fat free and are sodium free. But that’s not all! These hard to resist fruit are also known to have antioxidants, namely the cancer-preventing anthocyanins that can be highly beneficial for one’s health. Cherries are also the only source of melatonin in nature. Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced by mammals and is responsible to regulate our sleep.
Northwest Cherries are Malaysia’s favourite cherries with over 60% of the cherries consumed in Malaysia being from the Northwest Cherries growing region. Northwest Cherry Growers is represented by over 2500 growers from the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. Together they produce on average year around 400,000 MT of cherries. It is important to note that the cherry-growing regions in the pacific northwest are unique and conducive to growing cherries. This is due to the semi-arid climate which provides adequate warm days and cold nights coupled with the availability of fresh glacial water and volcanic soil. The outcome of cherries in these areas are one of the top-quality cherries in the world.
The Northwest Cherries are available in participating supermarkets and retailers such as AEON, Jaya Grocer, Village Grocer, Ben’s Independent Grocers, Cold Storage, Mercato, Lotuss, Giant, Aeon Big, TF Value-Mart and NSK. They are also sold at night markets in Malaysia and are frequently labelled as USA or Washington Cherries. Fret not if you are unable to visit any of these stores physically as they can also be purchased online on websites such as Lazada, Shopee, and Hantar Fresh.
