10 CapitalPress.com
April 14, 2017
Oregon Fruit Products taps into fermentation market
For the Capital Press
When Max Gehlar found-
ed Oregon Fruit Products in
1935, he was just looking for
a way to stabilize the revenue
of his cherry and plum or-
chard in the Eola Hills north-
west of Salem. He likely nev-
er imagined that his modest
canning operation would last
for the better part of a century,
buoyed by Oregon’s world-fa-
mous fruit industry.
From modest beginnings,
the business grew, employing
dozens of local workers and
buying fruit such as straw-
berries, cherries and cane
berries from local farmers
and orchardists. Over the de-
cades, Oregon Fruit Products
started looking farther afield
to source its fruit, building an
international base of suppliers
while retaining their North-
west grower network.
The business remained in
the Gehlar family until 2011,
when it was sold to Ed Ma-
letis, the former owner of
Portland-based beverage dis-
tribution company Columbia
Distributing. He brought on
Chris Sarles, also formerly of
Columbia Distribution, to be
the new CEO.
Under Sarles’ leadership,
the company has dramatical-
ly expanded its fruit for fer-
mentation program while also
pursuing new products for
foodservice — although they
KE
R
A
Courtesy Oregon Fruit Products
Cherries arrive at the Oregon Fruit Products processing facility.
assure customers that their
iconic black, illustrated cans
aren’t going anywhere.
Fruit for fermentation, a
line aimed at the craft brew-
ing, wine, spirits and kombu-
cha market, consists of fruit
purees in a wide range of fla-
vors, from classic apple and
cherry to exotic seasonals
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aisles, first you’re in cheese,
then you’re in chips, then bev-
erages, and every one has a tie
somehow to fruit,” he says.
For potential suppliers,
Sarles notes that documenta-
tion, especially in light of the
new Food Safety Moderniza-
tion Act, will continue to be
essential. “We want to make
sure that the people we’re
buying from are thinking for-
ward and doing all they can
to be compliant ahead of be-
ing required to be compliant,”
says Sarles. “(All our clients)
want proper documentation,
and that’s certainly very im-
portant to us.”
As demand for fruit prod-
ucts continues to grow, Ore-
gon Fruit Products is optimis-
tic about the future. “As an
82-year-old company, all of us
feel very fortunate to be where
we are,” says Sarles. “We’re
the caretakers of what some
incredibly bright, hardwork-
ing people have built over all
these years. It’s our responsi-
bility to carry it forward for the
next generation, so somebody
else can celebrate the next 80
years.”
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such as guava and gooseberry.
Sarles attributes the cate-
gory’s growth to wider indus-
try trends, as well as Oregon
Fruit Products’ ability to de-
liver a broad selection of fla-
vors. “Like anything, when
you have some experience,
you recognize where oppor-
tunities might exist,” says
Sarles. “For me, it was ‘go
with what you know.’ How
could we be more relevant to
the evolving craft beverage
scene?”
From his past work, Sarles
knew that seasonality was
important to brewers, so he
introduced rotating, seasonal
fruit products with relatively
limited availability. He says
it gave the company “the op-
portunity to bring innovation
to the brewer, to make them
think about what they’re going
to produce next.”
Sarles is also excited about
market opportunities he sees in
food manufacturing. “As I go
to different trade shows, I see
fruit popping up in all differ-
ent product types, even areas
you wouldn’t have thought of
before … when you walk the
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