New pear variety gains licensing to enter U.S. market

There’s a new pear variety about to enter the U.S. market. Yakima, Wash.-based Proprietary Variety Management has secured the license to manage the Celina cv. pear in the U.S.

A cross between two Bartlett pear varieties — the Broket Juli and Williams — the Celina cv. is a medium-sized pear featuring a cheeky red blush over a light green background, and the white-fleshed pear packs a sweet, juicy flavor, according to a news release. 

The Celina cv. trees adapt well to warm or cool climates, are highly productive, and tolerant against fire blight, the release said.

In other growing regions of the world, Celina cv. is marketed under the brand name QTee, and a priority for PVM will be to conduct consumer research surveys to select a new trademark for branding the pear in the U.S., according to the release. 

Related: Will Northwest pears bounce back from last year’s smaller crop?

As a managed variety, growers, packers and marketers can be licensed by PVM to participate in the commercial program. 

“We have received scion wood to build trees this fall, and I anticipate having a limited amount of trial trees available for planting in spring 2025,” Tyler Brandt, general manager of PVM’s sister company, Brandt’s Fruit Trees, said in the release.

Fruithandel Wouters and ABCz Group introduced the QTee brand in Belgium in 2015 and have continued to expand into additional territories each season, according to the release.

“Currently, there are 800 hectares of Celina cv. pears planted worldwide,” Kris Wouters, owner of Fruithandel Wouters, said in the release. “We are very proud to add the United States as our 15th country under exclusive license.”   

Learn: More about pears from PMG