Cherry Central Cooperative, Inc.

Cherry Central Cooperative, Inc., doing business as Cherry Central, is a small agricultural cooperative based in Ludington, Michigan that supplies processed and shelf-stable fruit products to the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a prime contractor under small business set-asides (partial and total), competing predominantly in Fruit and Vegetable Canning (NAICS 311421) and Dried and Dehydrated Food Manufacturing (NAICS 311423). The cooperative maintains production facilities in Ludington, Michigan; Payson, Utah; and Othello, Washington, with all products grown, processed, and prepared exclusively in the United States to meet Agricultural Acquisition Regulation requirements. Cherry Central operates exclusively as a prime contractor—611 awards since at least 1982 with no subcontract footprint—and holds no parent vehicle positions; instead, it receives task orders and definitive contracts from USDA commodity procurement vehicles.

Customer concentration is extreme and non-diversified. The Department of Agriculture accounts for all material award activity across four sub-offices: the Food and Nutrition Service (147 awards, $257.5 million combined potential value), the Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office (125 awards, $303.2 million), the Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crops Program (119 awards, $190.8 million), and the Agricultural Marketing Service general office (178 awards, $2.9 million). These four entities represent 95% of award count and account for $753.4 million of the $771.7 million combined potential value across all awards. A small Defense Logistics Agency presence (9 awards) and Farm Service Agency activity (3 awards, $728 thousand) round out the customer roster. The source notes combined dollars obligated of $884.2 million against combined potential value of $771.7 million—an over-obligated posture reflecting invoice velocity against ceiling values.

Capability portfolio centers on shelf-stable, canned, frozen, and dried fruit commodities in specific formats: apple juice and cherry apple juice in 8/64 fl oz plastic bottles; applesauce in 96-count cups (4.5 ounce), 24-count cans (300 ounce), unsweetened cans (6/10 ounce), and cup sleeves; frozen apple slices in 12-unit (2.5 pound) and 30-pound cartons; dried cherries in 4-pound and 8/2-pound packages; and grape Concord juice in 8/64 fl oz bottles. Representative recent work includes a $7.45 million May 2026 definitive contract from USDA for applesauce cups and cans (multiple pack formats), a $4.2 million May 2026 contract for bottled juices (apple, cherry apple, grape Concord, cranberry apple) under partial small business set-aside, and a $1.88 million April 2026 contract for Concord grape juice under full and open competition (no set-aside). These contracts support the National School Lunch Program and other domestic food assistance initiatives with FOB destination delivery to multiple distribution points nationwide and completion dates typically within twelve months of award.

Activity has declined year over year—22 awards in 2022 through 7 awards year-to-date in 2026—suggesting either portfolio management, a pipeline trough, or increased average contract value masking award volume. Four awards (combined potential value $13.9 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore face recompete risk. The cooperative also holds three active Indefinite Delivery Contracts with USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (IDCs 123J1424D0078, 123J1424D0103, 123J1424D0108, with combined ceiling values exceeding $11.2 million), which function as parent vehicles for task order issuance through January 2025 and beyond. Category concentration is overwhelming: Fruit and Vegetable Canning accounts for 330 awards, Dried and Dehydrated Food Manufacturing for 69, and Frozen Fruit, Juice, and Vegetable Manufacturing for 58. PSC-level concentration is equally narrow, with Fruits and Vegetables (PSC code) covering 582 of 611 awards.

The source notes Cherry Central received a $250 thousand USDA Rural Business Cooperative Services Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development Grant in September 2020 to support development and introduction of new value-added agricultural products, but grant work appears ancillary to the core federal contracting portfolio. Set-aside posture is entirely small-business focused: the source documents predominantly partial and total small business set-asides across the recent award window, with occasional full-and-open awards (no set-aside) interspersed. Cherry Central competes as a prime within USDA commodity procurement channels exclusively and has established itself as a high-volume, stable supplier to FNS and AMS across multiple product categories and annual solicitation cycles.