Between January and November 2010, The Netherlands exported more than double the number of pears it sold abroad during the same period of 2009.
According to information published by Productschap Tuinbouw (PT), exports of fresh pears for 11 months were up 53 per cent in volume terms year-on-year.
The organisation also revealed that last year's exports had already exceeded the total figure for 2009 by the end of August.
Despite a slight downturn in sales during December, PT said it remained optimistic that the eventual full-year figure for 2010 would be more than the record 211,000 tonnes shipped in 2007.
As of the start of this year, some 130,000 tonnes of Dutch pears were reportedly still in storage, of which the vast majority – 118,000 tonnes – were the Conference variety.
That represented a 16 per cent fall on the equivalent figure for 2010, PT said, but still above the stocks seen at the start of 2009.
