Washington State-based cherry grower and marketer Stemilt Growers is introducing a new cherry with the launch of Skylar Rae brand Tip Top cultivar cherries in select markets beginning this week. 

Grown and marketed exclusively by Stemilt, the Tip Top variety, which goes to market under the Skylar Rae brand, is a bi-colored cherry with a firm texture.

“Skylar Rae® cherries are very unique. They are both extremely firm and sweet, with naturally high sugar levels that make it the sweetest cherry on the market,” Stemilt president West Mathison said.

“Though volumes are limited in 2015, we are very excited to start introducing Skylar Rae® cherries to consumers, and look forward to increased volumes as trees come into production in the years to come.”

According to the company, the Skylar Rae cherries have a 'golden yellow skin with a partial to full orange-red blush' and a 'firm and nearly colorless' flesh.

It added the the high Brix level of around 23-25 meant it had the highest sugar content of any sweet cherry on the market. In comparison, Rainier cherries contain average Brix of 19-23 and Dark Sweet cherries, 17-20.

The new variety was discovered growing by chance in a Washington State orchard back in 2005. Rarely do varieties that appear by chance in nature end up being viable for commercial production, but this special cherry was an exception, Stemilt said.

The parentage of the new cherry is unknown, and believed to be a natural mutation of one tree that was planted years prior from nursery stock.

"The Toftness family, growers at Stemilt who have been farming cherries at their Tip Top Orchards in Wenatchee, WA for more than a decade, discovered the new cherry shortly after suffering the unimaginable loss of their infant daughter, Skylar Rae Toftness," the company said.

"Because of the timing of the discovery and events that surrounded it, the family knew this cherry was a rare gift from nature meant to honor their daughter, so when it came time to trademark a brand name for the fruit, it was a unanimous decision that the cherry should be called, Skylar Rae®."

Earlier this year, the Tip Top cherry cultivar was granted its own varietal classification by the International Federation for Produce Standards, making it the first sweet cherry to be given its own price look-up (PLU) number in years, according to the company.

Stemilt will market Skylar Rae cherries in two packages during its four-week season - a 1.25-pound pouch bag, and a smaller 1-pound clamshell.

The cherries will appear in limited volumes in select markets from mid-June to mid-July this season. Stemilt said it continued extensive plantings of the cherry and expects production to increase significantly in the future as trees come into production.

Photo: Tip Top cherries

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