"A lovely red blush, firm, juicy, and nice and sweet, with a fresh flavor. That describes our Sweet Sensation pears," says The Greenery's Grower Relations Manager, Ton van Wiggen. "We started sales in mid-October and will continue until late March. It's going to be a great season."
In the Netherlands, the first of this club variety's pears were picked on 10 September. Ten days later, the entire crop - around five million kgs - lay in storage. "Most are retail-sized, with hardly any small pears. We have a 10-15% higher volume than last year, but then, admittedly, the yield was underwhelming. So there's some recovery, but the various plots' quality differs vastly, partly due to hail damage. That, though, is often a very local phenomenon. A heavy shower surprised one grower a day before harvesting began," says Ton.
Building the market
When it comes to the Dutch pear assortment as a whole, he estimated a 10-15% lower-than-expected harvest. "A positive is that sizing is reasonably coarse; a negative is that quality varies by grower and plot, as with Sweet Sensation. It seems Conference was generally spared from damage."
"Doyenné du Comice and Beurré Alexandre Lucas, however, have some spotting and occasionally damaged skins. That means we'll have to get creative to get the product out in the right place. The European volume isn't high, nor is it low, so we can't assume everything will be hugely expensive. It's a matter of building the market rather than starting extremely high," Ton explains.
In the past five years, a nice market has been built up for Sweet Sensation pears, with relatively stable volumes and customer base. "Club varieties have their market. That will, however, become saturated at some point because, in stores, those aren't the cheapest fruit."
The club closely protects and monitors acreage. "You must be careful with the plantings, too, and extra kilos," Van Wiggen points out. "After all, with a club variety, you create certain expectations around mid-price and yield. If you can't meet those, you have a problem." He adds that that sales and yield guarantee is precisely what growers want in a club variety, and growers specializing fully in cultivation generally get the best returns.
A matter of vision
"Everyone compares free and club varieties' achievements, but you must consider whether you want to focus on a conventional product or do something special. Growing a club variety still offers something extra, and you join a club. The focus then isn't solely on money," Ton concludes.
The Greenery
Ton van Wiggen
Mob: +31 654 378 700
Chris van der Velden
Mob: +31 650 214 630
www.thegreenery.com