South Africa’s pear industry has for many years been searching for a range of blushed pears that would potentially increase its presence in the world’s markets.
A new pear for which South African plant breeders, nurserymen and fruit marketers, the Stargrow Group, have the sole South African rights, will now become available within two years and will signal significant progress to achieve this goal.
This pear, Celina, will for the first time in nearly 20 years offer a viable opportunity for the South African industry to offer the world’s markets a range of blushed pears from the early to late season.
“Celina will be the earliest of a range of three pear varieties which South African growers will be able to offer the world’s markets,” says Stargrow’s Andries van der Westhuizen.
“It will replace the current early pear variety available to growers,' he continues. “We have found that Celina does extremely well under South African conditions and its introduction into the South African industry is a significant step forward to increase the presence of our products on the world’s markets.”
Once Celina is under commercial production, it will open the season in what is a high-priced category of pears. Other mid- and late-season varieties, which are still under evaluation by Stargrow, will further boost options for South African growers who wish to extend the season and are seeking alternatives for varieties that are currently available.
Celina is a cross between Williams Bon Chretien, a dessert and canning pear well-known for its juiciness, and Coloreede Juillet, and was first evaluated in Norway in 1997.
Stargrow’s Chairman Michiel Prins says Celina will find favour with growers because it is presently the earliest blushed pear with excellent commercial sales potential.
“The colour is excellent and it does not lose the blush under warm conditions shortly before harvest, as is the case with some other early blushed pears,' he explains. 'It is also the growers' best friend, because it delivers an excellent yield, the trees come into production fairly early and it eats very well.”
Prins says that most importantly Celina will be part of an international marketing and branding concept which will ensure that the variety has customer exposure over much longer periods.
“We are delighted to have it as part of our Stargrow portfolio and look forward to working with international partners to maximise the potential of the pear,' he outlines. 'Most importantly, we believe Celina will strengthen the position of our pear growers in the international market because South Africa is ideally placed to become the world leader in blushed pear production.”
Initial efforts during the 1990s to establish a range of blushed pears in South Africa came unstuck because some varieties just did not meet their early promise. However, success reviving the fortunes of Forrelle, a relatively old variety, and building it into a major late season blushed pear, renewed interest in the range. With Celina now being planted commercially in South Africa, and with other Stargrow varieties to follow, the future looks bright for a unique new South African pear range.
Van der Westhuizen says that while Europe and the UK remain the premier markets for South African blushed pears, sales in the Middle East and Far East have significantly increased in recent years.
“We are now already shipping 20 per cent of our blushed pears to the Middle East and these trends will continue to grow once Celina comes into commercial production,' he says. adding that Celina will also be tested with leading South African supermarkets when it comes into production.
