South African pears imported into Canada will return to more of a regular start time this coming season. "This year it is about seven to 10 days later than last year but last year was early so generally it's more of a 'normal' start," says Peter Martino of FPD East, Inc.
South Africa will begin harvesting pears in weeks 52-week 1 and right now, a normal crop with similar volumes to last year is expected. The first variety available will be Bartlett which is packing in week 2 and shipping in week 3 which puts arrivals in Canada the first week of February. "Bartletts usually run about six weeks with product availability through the end of March," says Martino. Bartletts will be followed by Packhams and then into Blush pears. Cheeky and Celina pears will also be available from the end of March and Forelles by mid-April.
Pear sourcing regions
In South Africa, FPD sources its pears from three areas: Elgin/Grabouw, Ceres, and the Langkloof. So far, Mother Nature has been cooperative with no major issues in the growing season in these regions.
With no growing issues in the regions, Martino hopes to stay issue-free on the logistics side of the business as well. "The biggest challenge is always logistics. Vessel delays, rail delays–it seems there's always something going wrong to mess with ETAs. It makes promotional planning with retail a challenge, to say the least!" he says.
As for pear demand, Blush pears are increasing in popularity. "Consumer packs are growing every year for us–2 kg tray, 1 kg. bag, 5 lb. bags, etc.," says Martino. "Consumers are looking for value and that's driving these sales."
Meanwhile, on pricing, prices are similar to last year. "However with our Canadian dollar weakening, it will translate into slightly higher Canadian delivered cost," Martino says.
For more information:
Peter Martino
FPD East
Tel: +1 (514) 631-4141
[email protected]
www.fpdeast.com