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The Michigan Montmorency cherry. The REAL good stuff.
These 16 local Michigan tart cherry businesses are where you can find America's best tart cherries. We Michiganders call that a fact, and we use some evidence to support our claim to tart cherry fame.
We’re America's #1 leader in Montmorency tart cherries (Prunus cerasus). By measure of quantity, Michigan produces more plump tart cherries per year than any other state. Michigan’s annual tart cherry harvest exceeds 90,000 tons of cherries each year (huge for US standards, but tiny compared to Turkey and surrounding areas around the eastern Mediterranean and up north to cold Mother Russia with several regions sharing a similar climate as Michigan, and maybe a lil’ more land to grow). Stateside, Michiganders can’t claim the whole pie, because Utah, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, New York, are other states with pretty good cherries.
When you buy concentrated Michigan tart cherry juice, most people cut 1 ounce tart to 8 ounces of water. Midwesterners with chronic joint pain or sleep deprivation might cut it even stronger. One quart of Montmorency cherry juice concentrate lasts most people a full 30-days of tart cherry drinking. Graycare is NOT a doctor.
Michiganders don’t complain when there’s a lil’ more sediment in our tart cherry mix, it just means that's farm-squeezed next door. We buy our tart cherry fruits, juices, and other consumables (like Michigan Montmorency cherries in the form of capsules and cherry desserts in the form of pie) from supermarkets like Meijer and Walmart.
Montmorency cravers from around the United States visit our storefronts and ask to buy our cherries using all kinds of international currencies (while we hold strong to the US dollar). It's easier for people holding foreign moneys to buy online direct, but I've found most local growers of tart cherry prefer to sell local. Some cherry-craving Michiganders think out-of-towners who buy Michigan tart cherry products are sticking their fingers in our cherry pie.
If you’ve never tried Michigan tart cherry products, let me tell you what the Cherry Marketing Institute headquartered in Dewitt, MI reports: “Consumers [...] expect more bold, adventurous flavors. [...] Tart cherries provide the ideal, multi-faceted sweet-tart flavor profile [...] with a superfruit and premium positioning.
Credit: Video “Michigan Montmorency Tart Cherries: From Blossom to Bottle” by Traverse Bay Farms #ad
A long-standing trusted Michigan leader in tart cherry juice concentrate and tart cherry supplements. The brand runs two storefronts, their own processing facilities, and fertile Western Michigan farmland before that. 🛒 Buy direct from Fruit Advantage (here). Also available on Amazon (here).
Cherry Bay Orchards is available at in-store retailers, particularly around the Grand Rapids area, or shoppers can gift online for those living out of state. This brand’s tart cherry juice (not concentrate) comes in small 12-ounce bottles to fit tart goodness into people with active lifestyles, or who just like small bottles of tart cherry you can drink on the go. A rarity in tart cherry products, for cherry-lovers who prefer convenient, smaller portions. I’ll definitely buy some juice, concentrate, or dried cherries next time I see them at my local Walmart, D&W, and Family Fare. 🛒 Buy direct from Cherry Bay Orchards (here). Find them on Amazon (here for concentrate, and here for juice). Retailers like Walmart, D&W, and Family Fare typically stock their items.
Very good at fruit juice concentrate processing, specifically Michigan tart cherries. These cherries, processed, packed, and shipped from southwest Michigan, ensure quality bottles containing about 25 pounds of Montmorency cherries pressed inside. They offer pint-sized and quart-sized bottles, with cost savings on larger quantities. 🛒 Buy direct from Nature Blessed (here) Shop on Amazon (here).
Looking for the one labeled “Strong” Montmorency Tart Cherry Concentrate? Their retail presence spans sparsely across the United States, concentrated in Western Michigan (...pun intended...). That’s where you find their “Strongest” concentrates. 🛒 Buy direct from Cherry Republic (here). Check out Cherry Republic on Amazon (here).
DocCherry's unique appeal lies in the charm of the old country mill, especially during Michigan's warm seasons. They offer small-sized milk jugs of their product, targeting consumers seeking a tart cherry drinking experience cut hard. My personal favorite is a rudimentary bottle of dark liquid matter with a sticker slapped on it exactly like DocCherry. 🛒 You can buy direct from DocCherry (here), but unfortunately not on Amazon.
Nothing but pure tart cherry concentrate. It’s available in smaller-sized bottles compared to most brands, which I think is another nice touch. Their network of retail locations provide the freshest pick to Michiganders and Wisconsinites at select local stores. 🛒 Buy direct from Stanton Orchards (here). Or look up Stanton Orchards on Amazon (here).
Having moved their Ann Arbor headquarters to Clinton, Michigan since 1980, this is a heritage Michigan brand for healthy American food and beverage. This organic tart cherry juice is NOT made from concentrate, a perk for health-focused people who don’t want to mix concentrate with water or other spritzers. All Eden cherry products are “transitioning to organic” which is the period of time a factory is trying to prove to the government regulators they’ve already gone from “Normal Factory” to “Organic Factory”. 🛒 Buy direct from Eden Foods (here for concentrate, or here for juice. Or peruse the Eden Foods selection on Amazon (here for concentrate, or here for juice).
An innovative cherry grower, and great example of Michigan fruit-to-table Montmorency seller. One thing nice to know - they run a community involvement program supplying Michigan K-12 schools with some of Michigan’s freshest cherry delights. Shoppers who like their cherry open the door to a fruit-splendid variety of juices, both in glass and plastic bottles. A behind the scenes Michigan cherry plantation, supplying industry as well as community fruit juice needs, plus a fine three separate brands featuring a unique flavor blend of Michigan-grown tart cherries. 🛒You can’t but direct from Lakewood Organics (to my knowledge). Find Lakewood Organics on Amazon (here for concentrate, here for juice, and here for an associated brand’s cherry-infused antioxidant)
A unique local producer owned by Leelanau Fruit Co, who bottles their tart cherry concentrate uniquely in milk-jug-style bottles the way serious tart cherry drinkers like it.
Graceland Fruit, Inc.harnesses cherry-fertile orchard land in the “pinky nail” along the Lower Peninsula’s Lake Michigan coastline. It looks like a great place to grow big boppin’ cherries! After harvest and process, Graceland Fruit distributes jugs and jugs worth of the sticky sour stuff. 🛒 Since the brand or label by which Graceland Fruit’s products are sold is unclear (to me), I’m not sure where these wonderful cherries end up.
Look at the packaging types here, and you'll see new and exciting ways to swallow Michigan tart cherry. It's a grower-direct brand of my favorite type, one that tries something new while staying close to Michigan it's roots. What’s new in the lucky world of tart cherry? King Orchards innovates with single-serve cherry concentrate packets, easier to use and less likely to cause a sticky mess. People who drink their Montmorency hard will easy-squeeze the industrial 3-quart bottle one glass of however much water you like at a time. Available in 32, 16, or 8 ounce bottles, which is a wonderful size each with the same standard wide-mouth for tart cherry (almost the same diameter as a gatorade bottle). 🛒 Buy direct from King Orchards (here).
Tailoring their tart to both domestic and international markets, the enterprising Hackert’s also wholesale other types of farm-fresh Michigan fruit. Partnering in export to China with other Utah tart cherry growers, the Hackert Family focuses mainly on cultivation and does not process their own concentrate on-site. Their retail cherry juice might concentrate Montmorency cherries from various sources into the same bottle or distribute bottles sourced from different cherry growers to different regions, retailers, or seasons. 🛒 Buy direct from associated Indian Summer tart cherry juice is available on Amazon (here). Or consider buying direct from associated fruitHaven on Amazon (here).
Established in 1942, Smeltzer Orchard is a long-standing family-run business located at their Frankfort Farm. They welcome tourists into their ripe pickin’ store front, especially at peak summer harvest, so it’s maybe worth the effort to travel there! Where to buy Michigan dried Montmorency cherries? Smeltzer meets your Michigan tart snacking and baking needs. From snack-pack to bulk-box, Smeltzer offers quantities for every sized tart cherry craving. 🛒 Buy direct from Smeltzer Orchard (here).
If you haven’t heard of tart cherry white-labeling, this is it. Burnette Foods, operating from East Jordan, has a significant presence along the west coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, focusing on the tart cherry business. They let food retailers put their name on the tart cherry cans, white-labeling. They also run their own brand Mother’s Maid. The tart cherry business is a big deal out here. Bakers can get the fixings they need for a REAL Michigan tart cherry pie this way. 🛒 Buy direct from Mother’s Maid (here). Shop Mother’s Maid on Amazon (here).
Find Honee Bear in Lawton, MI, though It’s not really available to consumers like you and me. They do the canning of cherries and other fruits and veggies for other businesses (not to customers), so this would be a business call. 🛒 Sorry, I'm still trying to find where to get me some!
Nothing but Michigan cherries - whether sweet, dark, or tart. They make a name for the Northwestern Lower Peninsula’s tart cherry flavors, from classic cherry juice and yummy cherry jams to innovative cherry gummies. It’s the full array of sweet treats made exclusively from Michigan cherries. 🛒 Buy direct from Benjamin Twiggs (here).
Credit: Video "Michigan's Northern Michigan of Montmorency Tart Cherry Growing" is credit of Traverse Bay Farms, a highly recommended Michigan cherry business.
Elk Rapids, MI 49629
Traverse City, MI 49684
Coloma, MI 49038
…and also…
Berrien Center, MI 49102
Glen Arbor, MI 49636
Charlotte, MI 48813
Lake Leelanau, Michigan 49653
Clinton, Michigan 49236
Shelby, MI 49455
Buckley, MI 49620
Frankfort, MI 49635
Central Lake, MI 49622
Ludington, MI 49431
Frankfort, MI 49635
East Jordan, MI 49727
Lawton, MI 49065
Traverse City MI 49686
Finally, for people who don't share my Michigan State Pride ...probably because you live somewhere else and don't really know any people from Michigan, and that's totally fine (and please contact me as your first)... you might prefer shopping "Nationwide" or even need to get your tart cherry products shipped "Global". If Michigan isn't you're thing, please click one of these Cherry Express links to browse your favorite type of healthy tart cherry product: START with regular Juice, THEN try potent Concentrate, LAST consider Nutritional or Dietary Supplements.
