The Bing cherry, long the king of the Northwest industry, is losing ground to the newer Canadian varieties. In the 2000 season, Bing represented almost 75 percent of the Northwest cherry crop. By 2012, cherries sold as Bing represented only 22 percent of the crop. Meanwhile, varieties from British Columbia now represent 50 percent of all Northwest cherries that are identified by variety. Bing, discovered in Oregon 138 years ago, still sets the gold standard in terms of cherry quality and consumer satisfaction, but Reggie Collins, chief executive officer at Chelan Fruit Cooperative in north central Washington, expects that other […]