The Northwest US pear crop is likely to be reduced by around 10 per cent this season, due to a damaging two-day freeze in April, and a cold and wet spring in general.
The Green Anjou and Bartlett crops were most affected, and estimates put total production volume for the upcoming season at 17.1 million boxes - roughly 1.8m boxes down on the 2007-08 level.
Jeff Correa, international marketing director of Pear Bureau Northwest, told freshinfo: “We are looking forward to the sun to breaking through the clouds and for summer to start. It has been a cold and wet spring and due to those factors we are expecting a smaller crop this season. “However, it is still early and there is still a lot of unknown with the crop. Some growers think it could grow in size, while others think it may shrink,” he said.
The industry is coming off a “great” year for exports, he added. “Exports through May have surpassed 5m boxes for the first time in four seasons. The export value, which was helped by the weak dollar, has set a new record high for the sixth time in the last seven years.”
Export value is expected to top $140 million (£71.3m) by the time end-of-season figures are available. Exports to Europe, and the UK in particular, were up over the 2006-07 season, but remain down on five-year averages. “While there were more pears available, there still were not a lot pears in the size and grade preferences for the European markets,” explained Correa. “Europe prefers Fancy grade 110-120 size pears, and this past season the crop was nearly 90 per cent US Class I and sizes peaked on 80-90-100s, then 70s. However, there may be more Fancy grade pears available in the upcoming season due to the wetter spring conditions.”
Correa has been pushing the pre-ripening message to encourage European retailers to buy pears fit for their shelves, and admits this is still “a work in progress”. “We will have a panel discussion on pre-ripening at the Prognosfruit this year - in Ashford, Kent, on August 7-9 - and I will continue to push the idea with key retailers,” he said.
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