email this pageFor lunch there’s cherry chicken salad on cherry bread, cherry chili, cherry burgers, cherry pie and 16 flavors of cherry ice cream including smooth cherry, chocolate cherry, cherry mint chip, tractor tracks and rain orchard crunch.
Bob Sutherland, president and founder, grew up in the area and used to sell stones to the tourists. Once out of college, he continued by selling tee shirts and then baked goods, his very first product being Boomchunka Cookies with dried cherries, rolled oats and big chunks of chocolate.
With Cherry Republic, Sutherland aims to capture the essence of northern Michigan and put it in a product. Similarly he seeks to create a venue that expresses northern Michigan in displaying the cherry products in the Old Barn retail store, Bakery/Café and Winery, connecting the three structures with a garden of wildflowers. To help preserve what his customers come to northern Michigan for, he adds a 1 percent duty to every purchase, with the proceeds donated to Michigan conservancy organizations to help preserve orchards and farmland from development.
If you can’t visit Cherry Republic in person, visit on the website—cherryrepublic.com—or call 1-800-206-6949 for a catalog. Cherry Republic is a particularly busy place before holiday time in December but orders can be placed anytime of year. Gift-boxing is free and includes signature northern Michigan touches of pinecones, birch, cedar, plus gift cards written by hand. Cherry Republic dried cherries have a shelf life of 12 months and can also be frozen for longer storage.—Anne Hattes
Quick Ideas for Using Dried Cherries:- Pack them in your family’s lunchboxes.
- Add 1 cup of dried cherries to a fresh cherry pie.
- Add 1/2 cup of dried cherries to a fresh peach or apple pie.
- Combine dried cherries with nuts, other dried fruits, pretzels and chocolate for a homemade trail mix.
- Add dried cherries to rice pilaf or couscous.
- Sprinkle dried cherries onto your favorite green salad.
- Add dried cherries to hot or cold cereal.
- Munch them right out of the bag.
Michigan Cherries
Michigan produces 70 to 75 percent of the tart cherries grown in the United States and about 20 percent of the sweet cherries, making it the number one cherry-producing state. It’s only natural then that the National Cherry Festival should be held annually here —in Traverse City, Mich.—scheduled this year for July 7- 14, 2007. For details, go to cherryfestival.org
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