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  • ร—
    Urban Bliss Life ยป All Recipes ยป Kid-Friendly Recipes ยป Field Trip to Oregon Fruit Products

    Published: September 4, 2014 / Updated: May 25, 2021 by Marlynn Jayme Schotland ยท This post may contain affiliate links.

    Field Trip to Oregon Fruit Products

    Growing up in Oregon, the Oregon Fruit Products Company label has been one of those rare iconic images that has lasted throughout the years.

    OregonFruitProductsLineUpLabels

    Today, the label may be slightly modernized, but the company retains its longstanding local roots, commitment to family farms, and employing hundreds of locals who have not only worked for the company for decades, but have also seen their own sons, daughters, and grandchildren grow up to work for the same company. That says so much about Oregon Fruit Products, and I can't tell you how proud I am to bring you the story of this iconic Oregon company.

    Oregon Fruit Products

    Since 1935, Oregon Fruit Products has been providing high quality canned specialty fruit products for consumers like you and me, as well as aseptic purees, ingredients, and frozen blended products for businesses. More about the latter later, but you've likely seen their classic black labels on grocery store shelves throughout the country; they can and sell 11 different types of canned fruit, from their best selling red tart cherries to gooseberries to blueberries.

    OregonFruitProductsLabels

    Located in Salem, Oregon, the Oregon Fruit Products Company works with approximately 25-30 growers, most located within near vicinity of the plant. The farthest farms are the cherry farms in Washington's Yakima Valley, because, well, those Washington cherries are pretty darn near perfect, aren't they? (I just realized I have no cherry recipes on the blog yet. We'll have to change that next cherry season!).

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    I met Oregon Fruit Products CEO Chris Sarle at the Oregon Berry Festival this summer, and he kindly invited me and the two Bliss Kids out to visit the company's operations. We started the day visiting the Oregon Blueberry Farms & Nursery in Silverton, Oregon.

    Oregon Blueberry Farms

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    This particular family-owned farm grows approximately 200 acres of blueberries.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Zach, the Oregon Fruit Products Company Field Rep, works closely with the growers. He has contact with the farmers multiple times a day to ensure that fruit is picked at its ripest and handled with care. His own family has been in farming for more than 100 years.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Zach showed the kids and I how the machines go through and pick the blueberries, and then the kids and I got to climb onto one of the gigantic picking machines. You can see how large this beast of a machine is in scale to my kiddos:

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    This machine can pick about 15 acres of blueberries each night. The fruit apparently comes off the branches better at night, so it's less likely to get smashed.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    The machines work so efficiently that they can fill one of the blue crates pictured below in a matter of 2-3 seconds. Within one hour, an entire truck full of blue crates can be filled.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Machine Picked, Hand Sorted

    After our field trip to the farm, we were able to take a tour of the Oregon Fruit Products Company plant, where the kids and I were shown the entire process of sorting, weighing, steaming, and canning the fresh fruit. Official plant attire was, of course, required.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Oh, these two. The Bliss Kids are my heart, and seeing them in the hairnets and little lab coats that were still too big, and taking everything in with such intent, curious faces. . . I'm truly grateful for them to have had this experience. Plus: they're super cute in these lab coats!

    Okay, back to business. We followed the blueberries from farm to blue bins . . .

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    To the first set of hand sorting . . .

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    To the special color sorting machine, which allows you to select specific colors and the machine will sort out the green ones, for instance.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Then all of the "bad" fruit that is either smashed, miscolored, or too small or too large (customers will call and comment on their berries being too small or too large, so they do strive for specific requirements per fruit) gets sorted out. Most goes into compost.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    The approved fruit goes through a nice water bath . . .

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    And they go through this impressive line for final hand sorting.

    Workplace Environment

    I cannot stress, and pictures cannot tell you the extent, of just how much delicate care goes into hand sorting every batch of fruit that goes through these lines. It's quite an amazing experience, watching these ladies work. Many of these workers have been with Oregon Fruit Products Company for several years.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Workers like Ardis Birch.

    Ardis (pictured below, on the left with the American flag shirt, with Anna Flores) has been with the company for 46 years. FORTY-SIX YEARS. That is almost unheard of in this day and age, and she is still smiling. That smile from this amazing woman says so much about the kind of company Oregon Fruit Products is, and how they conduct business like they are one big family.

    OregonFruitProductsEmployees

    Okay, back to the fruit's journey through the plant . . .

    The fruit then gets sent to be canned, and the process is very similar to when you and I can fruit at home. . . only on a much larger scale. The steam baths these fruit go through are slightly more precise and detailed than my personal canning methods at home, that's for sure!

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Before the cans enter their final hot water bath, they are individually weighed by these experts, and adjusted accordingly.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Warehouse

    Prepped cans are then packaged up onto pallets in this massive warehouse. Here, Kurt (pictured below) gave us the lowdown on how they were left unlabeled until orders were confirmed. Most are wrapped with the classic black Oregon Fruit Products labels. But, others are labeled for large grocery store brand labels.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Here's What the Numbers on Canned Items Mean

    Did you know: the series of numbers and letters on each canned item has a rhyme and reason to it? Each batch of canned goods is given a specific code. If for any reason there are problems with the fruit, they can determine which batch may have had the issue. They can tell by the code on the bottom of the can.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    Cooking in the Oregon Fruit Products Kitchen

    Our last stop of the day was across the street to the Oregon Fruit Products test kitchen. Here, the kids were going to meet a real live Food Scientist -- isn't that the best title ever? My kids were so excited to meet a Food Scientist! Especially Bliss Girl, who currently wants to be a scientist of some sort someday.

    OregonFruitProductsTastingPopsicles

    Food Scientist Quynh showed us all how to make a few different recipes using their specialty canned fruit. She started with showing us how simple it is to blend up a can of frozen fruit. Then add some lemon juice, and make these incredibly sweet, fruitful popsicles.

    OregonFruitProductsPopsicles

    My kids loved these! We have similar popsicles left in our freezer right now from a batch that we made at home recently.

    OregonFruitProductsPopsicle

    Next, we learned just what exactly went into each can of Oregon Fruit Products. Basically, it's just three ingredients for each fruit: carefully measured amounts of fresh fruit, water, and pure cane sugar.

    OregonFruitProductsWhatsInACan

    That's it! Just like you would can your fresh fruit at home.

    OregonFruitProductsMeasuringWater

    Making a berry trifle

    OregonFruitProductsMeasuringBlueberries

    The final interactive kitchen activity was to make a berry trifle.

    President Chris Sarles jumped right in to help whip up some fresh whipped cream.

    OregonFruitProductsMakingTrifle

    Bliss Girl used her expert knife skills to cut up pieces of store-bought sponge cake.

    OregonFruitProductsSlicingCake

    Then both kids helped add layers of cake, whipped cream, canned fruit, and topped with fresh blueberries, rounding out the beautiful berry trifle.

    OregonFruitProductsTrifle

    No surprise here: this was my son's favorite part of the day.

    I love having the kids help in the kitchen when they can, and desserts like this include a lot of simple steps that kids of almost all ages can help with. And, I always think it helps them find the food more delicious too, if they've had a hand in making it.

    OregonFruitProductsTastingTrifle

    What a sweet note to end an incredibly full day!

    New products

    What's next for Oregon Fruit Products Company? For starters, they are continuing to work on exciting new partnerships with breweries and other food & beverage artisans, as they did with Breakside Brewery to help them create new fruit beers for this year's Fruit Beer Festival. And, just released in Fred Meyer stores, are Berrst: fresh pourable fruit in individual containers. These are perfect for using on waffles, pancakes, crepes, in sauces, and most definitely in desserts.

    Oregon Fruit Products tour

    In fact, the kids and I whipped up an absolutely addictive dessert using Berrst pourable fruit, and it has quickly become one of my son's new favorite desserts! He loves it so much, we just made it again last night. I cannot wait to share that recipe with you soon here on the blog!

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      Reader Interactions

      Comments

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      6. Lindsay says

        September 06, 2014 at 3:23 pm

        Looks like you guys had a great time! What a fun thing to do with your kids!

        Reply
        • Marlynn Jayme Schotland says

          September 07, 2014 at 7:53 am

          It was a blast. Thanks, Lindsay!

      7. Melinda says

        September 06, 2014 at 2:36 pm

        Great post! I love Oregon Fruit Products...they are my go to when I make berry pies (and don't have fresh berries).

        Reply
        • Marlynn Jayme Schotland says

          September 07, 2014 at 7:54 am

          I love that it also makes it easy for people who don't live in Oregon to have our canned delicious berries!

      8. Bonnie says

        September 04, 2014 at 9:59 pm

        This was fascinating to read! We love picking blueberries and I had no idea there are blueberry picking machines. And how fun for your kids to see the factory. I know my kids would love something like that too. This was a great read.

        Reply
        • Marlynn Jayme Schotland says

          September 10, 2014 at 8:18 pm

          Thanks, Bonnie!

      9. Kathy Stephenson says

        September 04, 2014 at 4:16 pm

        Great article, Marlynn. The people of Oregon Fruit Products so appreciate your visit and thank you for sharing our story. We are proud of our quality heritage and the fruit that goes into each can. Thanks for visiting our blueberry fields and the kitchen!

        Reply

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      Marlynn Jayme Schotland 2021 profile pic

      Hi! If you're looking for easy, fast, delicious family-friendly recipes, wine pairings, and travel tips, you've come to the right place! I'm Marlynn - a cookbook author, writer, photographer, and mom of two teenagers + a lovable lab retriever. I hold a WSET 2 with Distinction in wine, and am a member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA).

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