A decade after being introduced in Belgian stores, the red-blushed QTee summer pear is a fixture in Europen retail. "Besides being grown in Belgium and northern Spain, most of which are sold overseas, you can also find these pears in orchards in Norway, Finland, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, and France, among others," Kris Wouters, who owns half the rights, says, adding that despite this summer's crowded market, sales were once again smooth.
Due to the persistent rain, hail, and frost, the Belgian crop of the Celina variety - 75% is marketed as QTee - was roughly a quarter smaller than last year. Some growers reached only half their production potential, while others suffered hardly any losses. "Nature doesn't always reveal its secrets."
Market not empty like last season
With fewer pears on the trees, Kris and other growers expected them to grow very large. "The cloudy weather prevented that, though. The sizing wasn't bad, but neither was it enough to boost volumes. We could compensate somewhat for that loss with a slightly higher selling price, but prices had already been greatly hiked last season," Kris explains.
"This summer, many Conference pears from the previous harvest were still in storage in August, and there were quite a few South African red-blushed Forelle pears, QTee's natural counterpart, still available. Last year, the market was completely empty at our season start, which was the perfect time to push prices up slightly."
Spain – Belgium – Spain
"We finished with Belgian QTee pears in late September and began selling the Spanish product from the province of Lleida in early October. In Spain, picking starts three weeks earlier than in Belgium, so the Spanish pears are first on the shelf. But as soon as harvesting gets going in Belgium, we switch completely to local products," Kris concludes. The Belgian pears get priority because they want to avoid any surplus at the end of the season.
Marketing-wise, Kris and his company prefer a gradual approach. These red-blushed pears already stand out on shelves, and additional advertising should boost sales prices, thus covering costs.
Besides QTee, Fruithandel Wouters is also betting on marketing Conference and PikaBoo pears to Asia. The latter is a cross with Asian pear varieties, which do not require ripening and have a long shelf life. The company is trying to market PikaBoo pears mainly in Europe to reduce logistical risks.
Kris Wouters
Fruithandel Wouters
Kasteellaan 21
3454 Rummen, België
+32 (0)475283696
[email protected]
www.woutersfruit.be