Northwest Pears business updates

Borton & Sons

Sky Johnson, in sales and marketing at Borton & Sons, Yakima, Wash., said the company's pear volume is likely to account for about 500,000 cartons this year, up slightly from the 2015 season.

Chelan Fresh

Chelan Fresh Marketing will market about 1.8 million boxes of pears for the 2016-17 season, said Mac Riggan, director of marketing for the Chelan, Wash.-based company. Sizes are expected to run heavy to 90s and 100s, with few very large fruit or very small fruit, he said.

He said Chelan Fresh is focusing a lot of marketing efforts on pears to engage consumers on how to use pears beyond snacking. "We are trying to show how to incorporate them as a dessert, in salads," he said. "We're making a special push with some key retail accounts to engage that customer," he said. The campaign will include social media outreach. "We don't have to reach everybody, we just have to reach the key influencers," he said.

Riggan said Chelan Fresh will offer Sesame Street packaging on both apples and pears, and he said a couple of retailers order nearly everything in the Sesame Street packaging. "What it does is those retailers will build a larger display in a more prominent location and there is an attraction to that Sesame Street brand over a shipper's brand or two shipper's brands homogenized in a display," he said. "Everybody in our industry knows that big displays in prominent locations sell product. You have to give a retailer a reason to put your stuff front and center."

CMI

The Sweet Gourmet Pear program has seen strong growth for Columbia Marketing International LLC, Wenatchee, Wash., said Katharine Grove, marketing specialist. The 2-pound pouch bag for pears has seen strong growth in the past season, and a 3-pound pouch bag for pears will be available this season for bartlett and anjou pears, Grove said. "With the success of the 2-pound pouch bag, and with sizing being up, we see great opportunity for 3-pound pouch bags," she said.

Bob Mast, president of CMI, said CMI will have 2-pound pouch bags for organic pears marketed under the Daisy Girl label. "It is a category where we are seeing a steady interest."

Diamond Fruit Growers

David Garcia, president of Diamond Fruit Growers, Odell, Ore., said the Mid-Columbia Valley saw a significant drop on anjou pears. "We are looking at a reduced crop of anjous, but it looks like it will be clean and nice-sized," he said. The packer's fruit is marketed by Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers in Wenatchee, Wash.

Last year, hot weather caused defects in pears, causing reduced packouts. Garcia said packouts should improve this season.

Peak sizing for pears could run toward 90s, followed by 80s and 100s, Garcia said. Compared with last season, pear sizing could be half a size bigger than last year's harvest.

Garcia said pouch bags have made bagged fruit more popular, with the high graphic pouch bags appealing to consumers and retailers.

He said labor availability appears to be improved over a year ago, though some growers have faced delays in securing H-2A workers.

Several growers for Diamond Fruit Growers are transitioning to organic acreage, Garcia said, which will allow the company to expand its market. "We hope to have our first organics in the next couple of years," he said.

Domex Superfresh Growers

Domex Superfresh Growers will harvest a similar volume of pears to last year, said Catherine Gipe-Stewart, marketing coordinator for the Yakima, Wash., company. Bartlett harvest began in late July, about a week ahead of earlier expectations.

New crop pears will be on the big side, benefiting from excellent spring and summer growing weather, Mike Preacher, Domex's director of marketing and customer relations, said in a news release.

Gipe-Stewart said the company is again going to feature a social media promotion program featuring the hashtag messages of #eatapples and #eatpears.

Duckwall Fruit

Ed Weathers, vice president and sales manager, Duckwall Fruit, Hood River, Ore., said harvest in the Hood River area was about three weeks head of average. Harvest of starkrimson and bartletts began in late July. Harvest will wrap up by perhaps the end of September this year, he said.

The fruit had very good size and finish, he said. Average fruit size could be much heavier toward 90s and larger than last year.

Overall volume of bartletts and starkrimson are up from a year ago, but anjou volume will be off, he said.

Hot weather during bloom created less than ideal fruit set for anjous, he said, though fruit size may be up.

Weathers said the company continues to push forward with its pear conditioning program, working with retailers to deliver ripe fruit. "We have customers that we do the ripening on site and we also have customers that do ripening at their own facilities," he said. About 20% of the company's pears are part of a conditioning program, he said.

In total, the company expects to market between 2.2 million and 2.4 million standard cartons of pears in 2016-17, with winter pears accounting for about 70% of the total.

The company may have bartletts through January or mid-February, while winter pears are marketing through the summer months.

FirstFruits Marketing

General manager Chuck Zeutenhorst for Yakima, Wash.-based FirstFruits Marketing said the company expects similar pear volume to the 2015 crop, and fruit quality is very clean.

Northern Fruit

Mike Shannon, sales representative for Wenatchee, Wash.-based Northern Fruit, said the company's pear volume will be similar to 2015, with larger pear sizes and a heavier crop of bartletts.

Oneonta Starr Ranch

Scott Marboe, director of marketing for Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers, Wenatchee, Wash., said the pear crop has experienced a wonderful growing season. The company is expecting about 2 million cartons, with sizing very good. "Fruit is really clean with great color," he said. The company doesn't have any organic pears this year, but some acreage is coming online for 2017, Marboe said. Export markets that take larger fruit - notably China - will have good sales opportunities, this year, Marboe said.

Proprietary Variety Management

Cristy Warnock, operations manager at Proprietary Variety Management, Yakima, Wash., said the company has been testing new varieties of pears, including some asian pear varieties. Some pears are in the process of being named by consumer groups, Warnock said.

Rainier Fruit

Rainier Fruit Co., Selah, Wash., generally accounts for close to 16% to 18% of the Northwest pear crop, said Andy Tudor, director of business development.

Tudor said the company's bartlett pears set a good crop, while fruit drop with anjou pears was heavier than normal because of weather during pollination. Bosc production may be up slightly.

"The crop is similar in volume to last year's crop, but it seems to be a cleaner crop and bigger fruit size that will help us to please consumers," he said. Tudor said last season the industry had to market smaller sizes to the consumer, to trade people down from their usual preferences. This year, there will be significant volume of 100s and larger, Tudor said.

Rainier expects organic pears to account for about 5% to 7% of its total pear volume, or fairly close to the overall industry ratio of organic to conventional fruit. Organic fruit production is rising, he said.

Last season, for the first time, Rainier offered 3-pound pound pouch bags for conventional pears and 2-pound bags for organic pears. "It really helped us move the needle, especially when we were a little buried in small pears," he said. Generally, size 110s and smaller are packed in pouch bags, he said. Organic pears tend to run somewhat smaller than conventional fruit, Tudor said.

Sage Fruit Co.

Steve Clement, general manager of Sage Fruit Co., Yakima, Wash., said the company will be up 10% to 15% on pears for the 2016 season.

The company markets pears from the Yakima Valley, Clement said. Total combined apple and pear volume is about 10 million cartons, Clement said, with apples accounting for about 90% of the volume. Volume of organic apples and pears is growing, Clement said, with additional blocks this year and a big jump in organic expected in 2017. The company will be marketing its Kids in Force program again this year.

In 2010, Sage Fruit Company implemented the Kids in Force program in order to educate youth on the importance of health and nutrition, according to the company website. The free program allows kids to find downloadable activities on the Sage website that allow them to interact and learn about nutrition and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Stemilt Growers

Stemilt Growers is building a new automated distribution center in Wenatchee, Wash., said Brianna Shales, communications manager with Stemilt Growers LLC, Wenatchee, Wash.

The facility will feature a pear ripening center, repack capabilities and will become Stemilt's shipping point for apples, pears and cherries out of Wenatchee.

"It will be a one-stop shop and automation will increase our efficiency," Shales said. The facility will come online next year.

After the distribution center is completed, Stemilt will begin work on a new pear line, Shales said.

Washington Fruit & Produce

Andrew Erickson, Washington Fruit & Produce Co., Yakima, Wash., said the firm sells for Underwood Fruit in the Hood River district of Oregon. The company expects a lighter crop of anjou pears but a larger crop of bartletts.