Northwest fresh pear industry shares 2023 crop estimate and promotions

The Northwest pear industry’s fresh pear estimate for 2023 is 15.2 million standard box equivalents, which is on par with the four-year average.

The Pear Bureau Northwest released the estimate and promotion details for the 2023-24 season on Sept. 7.

“Pear growers are in full harvest mode right now hand-picking a new crop of beautiful, tasty pears starting with bartletts and starkrimson,” Kevin Moffitt, president and CEO of PBNW, said in the release. “There will be a full range of sizes available, including large-sized fruit as well as smaller sizes to fill the popular pouch bags as well as sizes to fulfill export market demand. Our team has been working hard to initiate innovative and effective promotions to get the season off to a good start. Retailers are engaged and optimistic about the pear season.”

Across all regions, harvest started in late August for summer varieties like starkrimson and bartletts, with growers beginning to pick bosc, green and red anjou in early-to-mid-September, according to the release. Specialty pears like comice, seckel, forelle and concorde pears will also be available in September, the release said.

The organic pear estimate is expected to come in at 1.9 million standard boxes equivalents, or 12.5% of the total projected Northwest crop, the release said.

“Our growers and shippers understand that consumers buy with their eyes, but flavor is what brings them back for more,” Moffitt said. “The industry is driven to provide consumers with the best possible eating experience. To meet consumer demands for sweet and juicy pears to enjoy one to three days from purchase, the industry continues to expand and promote the conditioning program, which is proven to increase retail sales and enhance the consumer eating experience.”

The Pear Bureau has seen success in reaching consumers online as well as in-store, PBNW Director of Merchandising Bob Catinella said in the release. “As shoppers continue to adapt to shopping on digital platforms We’ve been working closely with retailers to introduce new omni-channel programs to motivate purchase.”

Domestic promotion plans

Capitalizing on the latest trends and innovations in digital marketing as well as in-store, PBNW is initiating fresh promotions across the U.S. and Canada, according to the release.

The 2023-24 season will kick off with an updated social campaign by updating last season’s successful Meet the Pear creative while inspiring consumers with simple ways they can add fresh pears to their everyday dishes. PBNW will also continue to expand online shopping programs at retail with sponsored search, shoppable recipes and other shopper marketing promotions, the release said.

“Pears are incredibly versatile and can be used in a wide variety of cooking applications,” Jim Morris, marketing communications manager, said in the release. “This season we’re excited to create fun ways to help kids in the kitchen with a new e-book that offers several simple recipes they can prepare on their own.”  

The e-book will be available at usapears.org in October, the release said. Other special promotions for the season will include the annual celebration of World Pear Day on Dec. 2 and new recipes, including one for World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, helping to promote pears as a "sweet you can eat."

The PBNW export team also continues to look for new, innovative ways to reach consumers and to build on the success of the past season with its digital consumer outreach activities in markets around the world, the release said.

“Improving shipping conditions should lead to a brighter export outlook for the [Northwest] pear industry this season,” Jeff Correa, international marketing director, said in the release. “Mexico, Canada and Central America will be the key targeted markets, and the Pear Bureau has plans to increase its advertising activities and consumer outreach events earlier in the season to get off to a strong start in these markets.”

A return to in-store sampling in the Mexico market will help complement the added digital programs and advertising activities planned in that market, Correa said.

“With shipping transit times returning closer to normal and container costs coming down, PBNW expects the industry to look to move more export volumes to key offshore export markets like Taiwan, UAE, Israel, Colombia and India than they did in the [2022-23] season,” he said.