Italian pears have performed well this season, says Alessandra Ravaioli, marketing manager at CSO Ferrara. “The prices on the UK and Italian market have been more satisfactory for producers than last year and despite problems with sizing, the quality of produce has been exceptionally good with high sugar levels in the fruit.”
“Supplies are very good because we had such a hot summer in 2003,” says Pierre Arnauts, commercial director at Belgian fruit auction Veiling Haspengouw. “Conference pears will be available until the end of May. All the auctions across Europe are now trying to sell their pears as quickly as possible in order to be certain of delivering a high quality product. We haven’t seen any negative effects of last summer’s high temperatures on pear quality yet, but we sell on guaranteed quality, as do our European colleagues.”
At this point in the European season, the quantity and quality of pear stocks is vital in maintaining an uninterrupted flow of supply and at the beginning of February the Belgian market had 70,000 tonnes of pears in stock - a lower figure than last year despite the fact that the season began with a higher amount. Guy Goffings, top fruit consultant at Veiling Borgloon estimates that from an initial 13,000t of pears around half is now left to sell. “In Borgloon, there is still a large stock of Conference, while other varieties have sold out,” he says. “I estimate there will be enough pears left to last until May or June.”
Arnauts estimates a 10 per cent increase in pear volumes at Veiling Haspengouw on last year, and of a total of 40,000t, 97 per cent is Conference. Owing to a bad harvest Arnauts believes supplies of Doyenne will run out in the next 10 days.
Effective storage is the key to maintaining good quality produce throughout the year. “We are aiming to store Conference for the whole 12 months and have been experimenting with achieving this for the last two seasons,” says Jop Van Doorn, commercial director of Van Doorn International. “There has been a big crop, but due to a hot summer, much of the fruit was not suitable for long term storing. The majority of the fruit in the Netherlands and Belgium must be sold before May because it is not good enough quality to last until June.”
Bel Export has invested in a new form of storage, Glycol. “This is our second year with this system,” says the company’s commercial manager, Koen Vanherck. “The unit we have has the capacity to store up to 2.5 million kilos and is particularly useful for Conference pears late in the season. The biggest difference it has made is that it allows us to store produce year-round, from September until August.”
The unit also has the benefit of minimising drytips in the pears by reducing the losses in pressure and weight. “It is able to achieve this because the storage temperature of -1°C is very close to the temperature of the cooling machines,” says Vanherk, “in other systems the difference is much greater.”
Despite a tendency towards smaller fruit in this year’s Conference crop, Bel Export was able to increase sizes by 5mm. “Because we picked twice we were able to get the size up on the last picking,” says Vanherk. “Eating characteristics were especially good with high sugar levels of brix +14 per cent. The growing season was characterised by very hot, dry weather and the only real problem was the short picking period.”
Bel Export also produces Comice pears. “We like to clear them every year in January,” says Vanherk. “They do store well for that period but we do not like to keep them any longer than that.
“The amount of Conference we have in storage is not radically different to last season. We are still planting more crops of pears every year and are looking very carefully at quality,” says Vanherk. “We are now concentrating on expanding the capabilities of the packhouse and have purchased two new machines. The first is a flow-pack and the second is a net machine that we have installed in addition to the existing Newtec and flowrap machine. Expanding the ability of our packhouse is an important consideration for us and enables us to pack in many different ways. Supermarkets like to buy at source and we have invested a lot of money into our packhouse for the benefit of our supermarket customers. Our packhouse and our fruit growing systems are all BRC accredited and in fact all the certifications we could be asked for, we have. We can put the produce directly onto the trays and this helps to minimise damage. Crucially, fruit doesn’t have to be packed again.”
Conference has long been the most enduring pear variety on the European market, and there are many reasons for its continued importance. “It is a unique variety,” says Vanherk. “Everything from its taste, shelf-life, shape and grass-green colour make it unusual. The eating quality is good and it doesn’t suffer too much from russeting.”
A high juice and sugar content have also secured Conference’s place at the top of table, but, says Arnauts, there are retailers who buy 90 per cent Conference and so consumer demand follows on from that. “Its popularity stems from the fact it is a multi-purpose pear - it can be eaten with or without its skin and you can even cook with it.”
This year there have been no difficulties in Conference production, although in Doyenne, russeting was a problem says Belgische Fruitveiling’s marketing specialist Gisèle Joris. “For several years, all pears have been grown in integrated cultivation. The ministry of agriculture has compiled a conditions manual that is in line with other similar conditions manuals in Europe. Controls on observance of the IP conditions manual are performed by two external control bodies: SGS and Integra. Anyone found not working in line with the manual cannot have their fruit sold by us.”
At Veiling Haspengouw, growers also work according to the manual for integrated production and currently 85 per cent of Veiling Haspengouw’s production is EurepGAP compliant.
Overall, says Lance Cornell, joint managing director of Avicorn, it is an average year with no records being broken, but despite being relatively problem free on the production side, in the international market place European pears do still face tough competition.
France currently has stocks of Conference and Passe-Crassane pears left and sales are reportedly good, however few French producers export to the UK and France’s competitors on the summer pears market are southern hemisphere Packhams as well as Dutch and Belgian Conference, Portuguese Rocha and Italian Williams. Autumn and winter pears produced in France are sold nearly exclusively on the French market.
Another challenge, Joris explains, is the increasing volume of pear imports from the southern hemisphere, although these are not Conference pears. An additional concern comes from the entry of new countries into the EU that might result in the Conference pear offer being increased.
Alternate-bearing trees pose another difficulty. “This does affect our trade relations in a negative way,” says Arnauts, “it is a constant challenge to find ways of producing equal volumes year after year.”
“The problem of alternate bearing years is increasing,” says Goffings. “At this moment, root pruning is the best option to minimise the effect.”
Other difficulties stem from the UK retailers drive to buy home-grown produce. “Belgium had a large market in the UK before these campaigns began,” says Joris. “Now UK chains prefer UK products and we have to look to other markets for the smaller sizes we used to sell in England.”
Arnauts sees an additional problem. “UK consumers prefer Conference pears to have a grass green colour,” he says, “but because of the sunny summer, our pears are lighter than normal so they don’t fit the preference for this demand.”
Overall, the European pear category appears static, but while older varieties disappear, the demand for Conference continues to rise. “As there is no large spectrum of varieties for pears we make a point of maintaining the good name and quality of the varieties we are working with at the moment,” says Joris. “Research stations, growers and co-operatives make great efforts to improve the cultivation methods, storage and packaging. Another challenge is to communicate the selling points of pears to the consumers so they buy pears for taste and pleasure.”
Arnauts agrees that consistent quality is the most important way to gain the trust of consumers, however the power of a good marketing campaign should never be underestimated. “Demand for Italian pears is at a standstill,” says Ravaioli, “but that makes it more important to stimulate consumption. We have achieved good results in Italy thanks to the Emilia Romagna PGI advertising campaign.”
PACKING A PEAR PUNCH
Cross and Wells started with the idea of establishing a specialist fresh produce contract packing service for progressive companies, offering an ad-hoc service for those who require a top up or overflow facility.
In December 2002 the freehold of a bespoke 120,000 sq foot building on a six-acre site in Sittingbourne, Kent was purchased and since the turn of the year the company has been able to appoint a new warehouse manager, a technical manager and will shortly be filling the new position of financial director. In September 2003 a human resources manager was appointed, and all four additions to the management team offer the company the opportunity to explore new possibilities.
“Topfruit forms an important part of our packing portfolio; fruit from all over the world is packed every day of the year, with the notable exception of UK produce,” says the company’s Steve Cross. “This is being addressed, we are planning the installation of an exciting new type of grader which will be cutting edge technology, unseen in the UK. With changes in the attitudes of progressive top fruit growers we are partnering a scheme where evolution in the packing of apples starts at the growing stage, focusing all parties at the very beginning and moving forward from there. This is as opposed to traditional methods of grading and packing where fruit is presented to the production site, graded and a return made. All parties must buy into the requirements of the consumer - it is only by harnessing this focus that our production operation will deliver the required standards to the end user.”
The over-riding concept at Cross and Wells is to focus on added value, maximise returns to producers and to offer consumers an extremely high quality product each and every time.
“With our existing customers we are able to offer 12 month year supply of premium apple lines and are working in unison with customers to be able to extend the season for other varieties by exploring new sources, to enable the best product to be sourced throughout the year,” says Cross. “We are currently exploring some exciting possibilities with trials of new designs in packaging, which could revolutionalise the way top fruit is purchased in UK. “
Formed with the simple philosophy to provide the best, most cost effective, technologically advanced fresh produce packing facility, Cross and Wells operates around three key principles: people, systems and its facility.
In November 2003 a new operating system was installed on the site that facilitates total stock control and reconciliation, traceability, providing customers with real time stock access on all products held on site. The system can also be easily developed for future modifications.
“Being world class in each of these areas gives us the mechanisms to propel ourselves ahead of the competition,” Cross concludes. “We are the experts when it comes to produce packing, storing and distribution.”
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