Our in-depth report in the July issue of Eurofruit Magazine from the recent Interpera 2010 meeting in Ferrara, Italy, reveals a lot about the state of the global pear business. Marco Pederzoli’s detailed round-up of news and commentary from the conference event is bound to ring a few bells for those already charged with raising the profile – and sales – of the fresh pear category. The Italians in particular, it seems, are worried about where the pear business is heading in Europe: sales are in decline, they say; consumption is down; and production itself is showing a downward trend, especially for summer varieties.
According to Marco Salvi, a well-known supplier in Italy, the prognosis is not good. “If we want to remain competitive we have to shift our strategy towards transforming the pear from a banal commodity to a product,” he told reporters during the course of the meeting. A couple of months ago, Mr Salvi told Eurofruit Magazine that uniting behind a single brand could improve the commercial prospects of Italy’s unique Abate Fetel variety in much the same way that Portugal’s Rocha association or apple clubs like Pink Lady have done. “I believe growers can get the best results from club products, as in the case of Pink Lady,” he said.
The major problem for the Italians is a staggering breakdown in sales, which on the domestic market have fallen by 18 per cent since the start of the new millennium from around 450,000 tons to 370,000 tonnes. European pear consumption levels haven’t helped either, falling by 11 per cent between 2000 and today, with certain per-capita consumption of the fruit barely exceeding 2kg per annum in certain countries, among them Germany and the UK. In fact, according to CSO, which organises Interpera, the only countries in the world showing sizeable consumption increases are China and Russia.
But while things may look less than rosy for the Italians, there are some very positive signs for the pear business elsewhere in the world. Take the Pear Bureau Northwest in the US, which has turned pear marketing into a fine art, with some excellent results in new markets like Asia and Russia. Russia, which alongside China is one of only two major markets in the world currently showing an upward trend in terms of pear consumption, is also arguably the main reason why pears recently overtook apples as Argentina’s largest fruit export.
Portuguese Rocha pear exporters have done well by working together to promote a limited volume of their own unique variety under a single brand. This season, they’ve been building on a very successful 2008/09 campaign by developing their exports not only to the key European markets but also to places like Brazil, Canada, Russia and parts of Asia.
Of course, the Portuguese themselves aren’t now immune to the challenges of supplying export markets. Having chased the UK retailer by focusing on quality, some exporters in Portugal are now finding it difficult to source the appropriate sizes for other European markets like Germany, Spain and Russia, which generally speaking prefer larger pears. But their brand commands a premium, and is helping them build, not rebuild.
It’s hard not to agree with Mr Salvi, that developing a trademark for Italian pears is the key to saving the business: form a brand, build on your reputation and get your government to apply some pressure in big emerging markets in the same way that it has done for kiwifruit. China, while clearly a difficult nut to crack, is not an impossible dream: Italian exporters now send kiwifruit direct to Shanghai, and what’s more the Belgian pear trade is also celebrating an initial breakthrough in its bid to supply the Asian country.
Things may be tough, but it’s fair to say the future needn’t always be pear-shaped
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