It’s the height of cherry season! We took some of our crew out east towards Yakima to visit Roy Farms where we learned about their operations, toured their lush cherry orchards, and got loads of cherries ready to be churned into our next farm fresh ice cream.

Roy Farms is situated east of Yakima in the beautiful Moxee Valley. Acres and acres of crops stretch out expansively against the backdrop of rolling, golden hills and bright clear blue skies. Roy Farms began in 1907 as a hop farm and are well respected hop growers. Over the years, they’ve diversified their crops to include apples, cherries, and blueberries. They have a relentless commitment to quality and responsibly grown produce.

With 33 years of cherry production behind them, they have their cherry growing and harvest down to a fine art! Cherries are harvested during a two week window, picked by hand and layered carefully into shallow bins to prevent bruising. Because they are delicate and quite perishable, it’s essential to get the picked cherries out of the hot fields quickly. Roy Farms is well equipped to keep their cherries fresh by getting them into cold storage quickly, including a rapid-chilling process to eliminate the heat inside and out as soon as possible. Once cooled and rinsed, they’re ready for packaging and distribution!

Now these delicious cherries will make their way to you as we fold them into our latest Farm Fresh ice cream: Roasted Cardamom Cherry! You’ll find it available by the scoop in our Capitol Hill, Ballard, 108 Pine and Queen Anne cafes, and by the pint at all locations including our West Seattle and Madrona cafes. Stay tuned to our social media (find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) to be the first to know when we roll it out!