Ricker Hill Orchards named 2017 Producer of the Year

AUGUSTA — Ricker Hill Orchards, of Turner, was named 2017 Producer of the Year by the Maine Grocers & Food Producers Association.

The award was presented Oct. 18 at the association’s Food Means Business summit in Freeport.

The orchard was founded in 1803 and has been in the family for nine generations. It has orchards in Turner, Auburn, Minot, Hebron, Greene, Bridgton, Harrison. Ninety percent of Ricker’s apple production is sold in Maine and eastern New Hampshire.

In 2014, the company launched a line of hard cider and opened a tasting room in Turner.

Other awards presented by the association Oct. 18 were Snyder’s-Lance of Saco, 2017 Distributor of the Year, and Mark Kelley, owner of Country Farms Markets of Washburn and Easton, 2017 Grocer of the Year.