The Conference pear harvest may have started at Woutersfruit in Belgium. But, in their warehouse, they're busy sorting a very different variety - the QTee club variety. "We began picking these pears three weeks early. It's all done now," says Kris Wouters. "I expect our QTee volumes will be finished by mid-November. They sell quickly every year."
Last year, they harvested a volume of 3,200 tons. This year, it's 4,000 tons of slightly smaller sizes. That's also more than 2018's 3,700 tons. "Aside from the sizes, this year's quality's better. We have more Class 1 fruit and less Class 2. The weather didn't affect us much this year. That's good news for the future. It means we need fear the spring frost we had, less."
The QTee pears are sorted both at Wouterfruits and a second BelOrta (cooperative) location. "The Class 1 pears of 60mm+ are destined for the European market. The smaller ones all go to the Middle East. We sort the less-colored pears later. They go, mostly, to India and Malaysia," says Kris.
Sorting
"The current price is similar to last year's. And the pears are selling well, at least on the European market. We're sorting and packing the large, nicely pink-blushed now. They'll go to the retailer sector. Each chain has its own demands. For example, one store wants smaller sizes; the other, larger, repacked pears. Next year's going to be interesting for the loose pears. They're going to ban stickers on fruit. It's not a sure thing, though. We're trying to find a way to make our pears more visible. Such as a large container from which people can select their pears. But that's not feasible in every store."
Diversity
Wouters has had QTee pears for several years now. This year he's added plums. "As a grower, I think it's important to keep investing in crop diversity. If you only cultivate, say, Conference pears, your risks aren't spread. We saw where that could lead in 2014, with the Russian boycott. I, therefore, wouldn't exclude the possibility of us looking further into growing other fruits in the future either," Kris concludes.
For more information:
Kris Wouters
Woutersfruit
21 Kasteellaan
3454, Rummen, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 115 86 190
Mob: +32 (0) 475 283 696
Email: kris@woutersfruit.be
Website: www.qtee-pear.com