Pear Harvest Pt 2

Pear Harvest Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Pear lovers are in for a treat this year with a harvest looking to be larger than earlier estimates, and up 26-percent over last year yield.

Estimates for 2018 are now 20.2 million 44-pound boxes of fresh pears , ahead of the early season numbers of 18.9 million boxes.

Pear Bureau Northwest's Kathy Stephenson says it's been a while ...

STEPHENSON ... "Yeah, it looks good. About four years ago we had a couple great years in a row and this year is certainly better than the last three. So, we are happy to see our numbers up. That means a good, strong, healthy crop as well as it means we've got a strong crop of trees going forward."

She says it's a nice turn around from recent seasons ...

STEPHENSON ... "We had a couple dips in a row and, you know, a lot of our orchards are older and you don't know what year after year of these hot conditions, what impact it can have on the pear so we're excited to see our trees produce and get where we hope them to be."

And, Stephenson says the hardy harvest allows them to continue their focus on marketing to the younger generations ...

STEPHENSON ... "They seem to pay even more attention to the things that they're consuming. So, having a nice strong message, for us it's all about fiber and how fiber satisfies us throughout the day and helping us with weight management as well as a whole bunch of other chronic diseases. So, those messages seem to be very strong and well received and we will continue on the nutrition messaging for sure."

She says retailers have a great opportunity for pear growth this season.

Green Anjous make up about 49% of Northwest pears, Bartlett 26%, Bosc 15.7%, with other varieties rounding out the remaining 10%.

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