Cascade Delight was released as a new raspberry cultivar in 2003. It is productive, with long fruiting laterals producing large, firm fruit. The fruiting season and productivity is very similar to Tulameen, though fruit size and firmness are greater. In research plots at WSU Mt. Vernon and Puyallup, it was very vigorous and withstood Root Rot where Tulameen, Meeker, Qualicum, and Comox could not.

Cascade Harvest was developed by WSU in 2014 and is moderately firm with a light to medium red color. A mid-season variety with timing similar to Meeker, this variety tends to be high yielding. The variety has a good degree of tolerance to root rot and also carries the gene Bu, which gives it resistance to the common strain of RBDV.

Cascade Premier is a bright, flavorful variety bred for easy automated harvest. More than a decade in the making, this variety was first crossed in 2007 from two WSU experimental varieties and released in 2018. Cascade Premier’s berries ripen earlier in the season and release easily at the right time, allowing growers to lengthen their season and harvest firm berries. The new variety also grows its fruit-bearing branches to a uniform length, reducing damage to the canes from harvest and ensuring better yields. 

Chemainus is a mid-season processing type from the Ag Canada program that produces medium-large sized, medium-dark colored berries. It machine harvests well and can be used for processing and IQF. It can also be used for fresh market.

Kulshan™

Meeker was developed by Washington State University (WSU) and released as a new cultivar in 1967. Meeker is vigorous with long fruiting laterals. Modifications to harvesters allowed Meeker to be machine harvested and by the late 1980s, Meeker was the predominant cultivar grown in Washington. Meeker is a sweet raspberry with the delicious flavor one expects but bred to be stronger, withstanding mechanical harvesting without loss of quality. This development has contributed greatly to Washington’s elevation in status as one of the largest raspberry-producing regions in the world. Meeker is a late-season, very productive summer fruiting raspberry with excellent traditional raspberry flavor. It is a versatile cultivar with its fruit being usable for fresh, IQF, bulk frozen, juice or puree. Although it is acceptable for local fresh market use, other cultivars are larger and better for longer-distance fresh markets. It is particularly sensitive to Root Rot as a new plant but has more tolerance after it has become well-established. RBDV infection causes a reduction in yield and crumbly fruit, which results in a lower grade fruit and reduces the longevity of plantings.

Squasmish come from the Ag Canada program and are medium to dark red in color, firm and glossy with an excellent flavor. Initially, Squamish was identified as having the potential to be an early season replacement for Malahat with better tolerance to Phytophthora root rot and other soil-borne diseases. Further testing has shown that it also has the ability to machine harvest extremely well and the potential to be a dual-purpose variety for both fresh and processed markets.

Tulameen is the standard variety for the fresh market throughout the world. It has a large fruit with an excellent, non-traditional raspberry flavor. Because of the large fruit size, it can be difficult to machine harvest.

Wake™Haven is an early to mid-season variety that ripens earlier than WakeField with the potential to extend harvest season to more than 6 weeks. With medium fruit that’s light to medium in red color, very firm and a good flavor, WakeHaven I high-yielding and cold-tolerant.

Wake™Field is a late-season variety with harvest continuing through August. With a medium to dark red color, these small-to-medium-sized berries are firm and flavorful. High-yielding and perfect for machine harvesting, this variety is slow to develop raspberry dwarf virus (RBDV) and has some field resistance to root rot.