The Case for Cold Storage
As fruit production booms, growers look to Kennewick for the model of success.
The story, cleaned up
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Because of the short fruit crop in this valley last season and presuming we escape frost damage, there is every indication that the district will produce an unusually large fruit crop this coming year, which makes pertinent the need of a cold storage plant. Most towns in the Yakima valley now have one or more of these plants, which are proving money makers for growers. Just what this meant to Kennewick growers was shown when the Big Y closed its pool on D’Anjou pears: growers received a general average of $2.79 per box or $110 per ton net after all packing, storing, and selling charges. W. D. Mackay of the Bleakley Fruit company was working on plans for a cold storage plant at White Bluffs last spring when the freeze destroyed the crop. Might it not be good business for local growers to see if the plan could be revived?
“Most of the towns in the Yakima valley now have one or more of these plants and in spite of the heavy initial cost they are all proving money makers for the growers.”
This reflects the early industrialization of Washington's fruit belt, where infrastructure like cold storage became the dividing line between subsistence farming and commercial success. The struggle to coordinate local industry remains a core theme in the economic development of the Tri-Cities area.
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