Liberty Orchards finds a buyer to keep Aplets & Cotlets production going
Jun 1, 2021, 8:24 AM
The Aplets & Cotlets store at the Liberty Orchards factory in Cashmere, Wash., had expected to close in 2021 after 101 years in business. (Feliks Banel/KIRO Radio)
(Feliks Banel/KIRO Radio)
Liberty Orchards, the makers of the Aplets & Cotlets, will remain open after all.
Aplets & Cotlets, a strongly flavored variation on a fruit candy known as “Turkish Delight,” have been a Northwest fixture for decades. But in March, they announced they were going away forever.
Now, according to Liberty Orchards’ website, the company is still open. They had planned to close on June 1, but “are pleased to announce that the company is currently negotiating with a prospective buyer.”
Until negotiations are concluded, they say they will remain open and continue all normal operations.
The powdered-sugar covered chewy candies are made in a small factory in Cashmere, Washington, in Chelan County, west of Wenatchee along Highway 2. Liberty Orchards was founded at least 101 years ago – nobody’s exactly sure – by company president Greg Taylor’s grandfather and uncle.
Liberty Orchards is privately held and doesn’t release sales figures, but Greg Taylor previously told KIRO Radio that the company is on the smaller side, compared with other candy manufacturers, in a category he describes as “less than $25 million a year in sales.”
Taylor, who is 72 years old, has been the president of Liberty Orchards for 43 years. He said the decision to close was not directly related to COVID, but the pandemic did contribute to a more difficult economic environment. A bigger factor, Taylor says, was that there wasn’t interest among younger family members in continuing to operate Liberty Orchards.
KIRO Radio’s Feliks Banel contributed to this report.
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