As of this week, the picking of the new QTee® pear crop is behind us again. It is, as in many other varieties, an early season, but for Fruithandel Wouters it means that sorting is now in full swing. "We are a bit earlier, but because the market is not empty and there are also more summer pears, we expect sales to start a bit slower than other years," Kris Wouters of the Rummen-based company of the same name told us.
"Qualitatively, the vast majority looks very good again," explains the trader. "We cannot yet give a definitive answer about the volumes, because not everyone has finished picking yet. We estimate that it is about 80 per cent of last year's crop. However, the strange thing is that there is a big difference between the plots. We have plots where we had a full crop, but also plots where only about 40 to 50 per cent was left hanging. It was very different for each location. Why is that? We can't really explain it. Maybe some trees are just a bit stronger than others, or certain parts were just a bit better protected. Overall, though, we can't complain about the harvest. Certainly not if you look at how the forecasts are for some other varieties, and especially for apples."
Certain qualities for certain markets
And so, Kris looks forward to a new season with a feeling of hope. "Last year, we exported to 21 countries and we are still getting requests. So we certainly don't have to complain about the demand. In the end, the market that pays the best price will get the pears. It's as simple as that," he laughs. "However, we do see that certain qualities are favoured by certain markets. For instance, the smaller pears generally go to the Middle East. Sizes 60-65 we mostly export to the UK or Germany, for example, and the larger pears go all over Europe. The QTee is in demand by everyone."
Pears of the Celina brand.
"We now also have a 25 per cent of pears that have fewer, or no red colouring," Kris continues. "By the way, these are also just class 1 pears we sell under the Celina brand. They aren't coloured red, but last year these also sold very well. We end up selling these pears more towards the end of the season. Last year, they were actually all sold within Europe, but countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and India are also interested in them. However, last year, prices in Europe were so high that we didn't need to take risks sending containers there. Whether more will go east this year remains to be seen. That depends on how prices are here in Europe."
Longer season due to full market
The QTee's season runs roughly until mid-October. "At least, that was the case in recent years anyway, but we have regularly had the question from supermarkets whether we could not continue longer. This year it might just be that we will continue through November because it is a different market from other years. Last year, the market was empty and everyone wanted new pears as soon as possible. Now we see, especially in German supermarkets, that people are still doing a lot with old Conference and, which actually surprises me, still have a lot of pears from the Southern Hemisphere. We hear that there are quality problems with that, but they bought it, and it has to go anyway, so it gets in the way of the new QTee a bit."
"By the way, this need not be a big problem because, as indicated, supermarkets would like to continue with QTee for longer. Now we have an early season this year, but due to the old harvest and summer pears, we expect sales to be a bit slower, and we could therefore continue with this harvest through November. However, it remains to be seen. There are so many factors that can influence this, so we will see."
Little difference between organic and conventional
Besides conventional cultivation, QTee pears also have a significant organic supply. "We now have three growers who grow the pear organically, and the situation there is similar to conventional. There are plots that look beautiful and there are some plots with more problems. These are mainly the young trees, which seem to have suffered more from the weather conditions. The special thing about the QTee, however, is that you have almost no difference between conventional and organic. It is a variety that has very little susceptibility to scab and not at all to black fruit rot, so I would almost dare to say that conventional and organic are very close in this case."
For more information:
Kris Wouters
Fruithandel Wouters
Kasteellaan 21
3454 Rummen, Belgium
+32 (0)475283696
Email: [email protected]
www.woutersfruit.be