The Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project (MORP) has been awarded a $42,400 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to jump start the local apple market.
MORP has been working to restore the once-vibrant fruit market in Southwest Colorado. They believe there is strong emerging market for local apples, especially in the burgeoning hard-cider industry, says MORP director Nina Williams.
“The purpose of the grant is to evaluate the feasibility of a mobile cider press in area orchards,” she said.
Pressing juice in an orchard saves the transportation costs of delivering it to a processing facility.
In pilot project this month, Northwest Mobile Juicing, of Montana, will set up its portable pressing plant at a local orchard and press 800 bushels of apples, enough to make 2,200 gallons of juice.
The mobile, commercial-grade juicer includes an apple press, pasteurizer and bag-in-box packager.
“It is a pilot project to see if it will work here in order to bring back a local market for apple juice,” Williams said. “That has been missing since Mountain Sun Juice closed in 2001.”
If the trial apple-press run is a success, the next hurdle would be to pass state and federal regulations for retail and wholesale distribution of packaged apple juice.
Then, if deemed feasible, MORP will prepare a business plan to acquire and operate a mobile pressing plant. The mobile units cost about $120,000, not including the truck and generator.
