Chelan Fresh's Cup o' Cherries packaging can be described the to-go cup equivalent of fresh produce consumption. The format, released on a small scale this past season, seeks to change the way people snack on the go and make cherries an easy option, explained marketing director Mac Riggan.

"The lid is a two-compartment lid. You dispense the cherries from one side and twist the cup around and spit the cherry pits into another. There are no stems. It’s almost like eating a grape, but there’s a seed in the middle. Once you’re all done, you can just toss it and it’s done," Riggan told www.freshfruitportal.com.

"You can walk down the street with your hand on your briefcase and the other on a cup of cherries and eat it. So a guy in downtown New York who can afford cherries, he can go grab that and eat it on the way back to his office."

The cup will be on display at the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit in New Orleans next week.

The product has already been made available on a limited scale for shoppers in Pennsylvania and New York. Riggan said the company is investigating expansion possibilities for the product next season.

"We launched it last summer and it went over pretty well. We had limited capacity because we just started. One of the things we’re really working on is how much of it we can pack. We’re going to have it at the [Fresh Summit] show and go from there," he said.

"It’s a good idea and has been really well received at the retail level. It takes cherry consumption to a completely unique way where no one has ever taken it before.  It turns it into a Starbucks coffee drinking experience."

www.freshfruitportal.com