The Spanish province of Leon accounts for 90% of the pear production in the whole of the Castile-Leon autonomous community, and the harvest has already started in the region of El Bierzo, where the forecasts for this season are quite positive.
"In terms of volume, we are expecting a fairly similar production to last season's," said a representative of the Cofrubi cooperative. "Some batches were hit by hail, but in general, we have good-sized fruit with the same good russeting as last season."
In other areas of Spain, there have been reports of problems with the flowering of the Conference variety due to climatic factors, namely the water and heat stress suffered by the trees last season. In fact, it was recently announced that Catalonia's Conference pear production could drop by up to 45%. "We have not had this problem in El Bierzo. In fact, we've had favorable weather conditions both last season and this one and the flowering and fruit set have been adequate."
An average production is expected this time, similar to that of the 2023 season, when 25% more fruit was harvested compared to the previous year, bringing the season's production to 13.5 million kilos.
"At the moment, the harvest is in full swing for Cofrubi, as our members started harvesting the Conference on August 19," they say. "Our Conference pears are intended for the domestic market, as we have a portfolio of firmly committed customers, and we are also committed to them; however, we are not ruling out the possibility of exporting in the future. In fact, we are open to the idea if our partners continue to bet on increasing the production of Conference pears in El Bierzo."
For more information:
Cofrubi
National Road VI, Km. 398.6
24549 Carracedelo, Leon. Spain
Tel.: +34 987 56 28 20
www.cofrubi.com