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  • Maraschino Cherries
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Consumer Information

Lessons from the Orchard

Do maraschino cherries grow on trees? Well, not exactly, although a maraschino begins its life as a fresh cherry.

There are hundreds of cherry varieties around the world. The two basic types are sweet and tart, or sour. Tart cherries have a lower sugar content and are most often canned or frozen with added sugar and used for pies. Sweet cherries are harvested for fresh consumption, juicing, drying, or processing into maraschinos.

Most maraschinos are “light sweet” cherries, such as the Royal Ann, Rainier or Gold varieties. These cherries are notable for the yellow/blush color, as opposed to the dark red color found in the Bing variety. However, because we brine the cherries before processing into maraschinos, most sweet cherry varieties are suitable. Cherries are harvested either by hand (which helps retain the stem), or by a machine that shakes the trunk of the cherry tree and collects the cherries as they fall.

Gray & Company sources its cherries around the world. Most of our cherries are supplied by the two key growing regions of the United States – the Pacific Northwest and Michigan. Gray & Company does operate its own orchard, but the bulk of our supply comes from a long list of contract growers. Because you never know what Mother Nature will bring each year to the U.S. harvest, we also source cherries from Europe, including Italy and Turkey.

Maraschino cherries – a history lesson

Lessons from the orchard

How a maraschino is made

Ingredients, nutrition facts & shelf life