Pear Bureau NorthwestOregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (from left) presents a basket of fresh USA Pears to a customer at a Hong Kong supermarket accompanied by Erich Kuss, director of U.S. Agricultural Trade Office, U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. Kicking off a season that is expected to see Hong Kong increase orders for Oregon pears by 87% compared to 2011-12, a trade delegation from the Oregon pear industry visited the city Oct. 19.
Gov. John Kitzhaber and Jeff Correa, director of international marketing for the Pear Bureau Northwest, met with Erich Kuss, director of U.S. Agricultural Trade Office, U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. The trio visited a supermarket to launch the 2012-13 pear season.
The governor said in a news release that Oregon counts on the pear industry to not only provide the state’s official fruit, but to provide jobs for more than 4,000 people in Oregon’s rural communities. He said pear volumes to Hong Kong have doubled in the past five years, which makes the city the largest export market for Oregon pears in Asia.
Correa said in the release that Hong Kong is also in the top 10 export markets for pears from the Northwest. Varieties particularly popular in Hong Kong include green anjous, red anjous and bosc pears.
Projections from the Pear Bureau Northwest indicate an 87% increase for this season in Hong Kong over the 2011-12 season, with confirmed orders as of Oct. 19 at 22,000 boxes. Correa said in the release that the seven-month window of availability that pears from the Northwest offer helps the demand in Hong Kong, which is a key market during the second half of the season.
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