South Africa's blush pear category has undergone a metamorphosis over the past decade, spurred on by opportunities in the East.
"What happened was that, traditionally, South Africa was known for its Forelle pears, which were sold mainly in Germany," explains Tru-Cape procurement manager Calla du Toit. "When the Chinese market opened, Forelle was the obvious choice for them. Forelle reminds them of the Asian pear, which is still the preferred pear category in Asia. Forelle has an astringency which they like."
This new avenue for blush pears, after Vietnam also opened for South African pears, made clear that there was a huge potential for blush pears, not only in the Far East but in the Middle East too. Buyers like the high fructose and sweet taste of South African pears, he puts forth, and the pears are handsome: worthy of being presented as a gift or an altar offering.
"We did a lot of work over the past three years in blush pear trials because Forelle works, but it's a late-season pear. We started experimenting with other cultivars because we realized that there was tremendous potential for the blush pear category in the Far East and in the Middle East."
Blush pears' short storage period gives each hemisphere a fair chance
"We're experiencing tremendous demand for blush pears at the moment," he says. "And we have exciting new cultivars to match."
Their trials into the storage, shelf life, and eating experience of various blush pear cultivars led them to the conclusion that their best bet as season-opener was the local cultivar Cape Blush, developed by the Agricultural Research Council and managed by Culdevco.
"It stores well, it has very good blush, and so the first commercial volumes have been loaded out this year, 85 bins packed at Ceres Fruit Growers and just starting to arrive now. We've had very good reports from where they've already arrived."
First QTee volumes
Following on Cape Blush is Celina (marketed as QTee). TruCape obtained the sublicense from Stargrow two years ago and packed the first volumes into the brand this year. "What makes QTee interesting is that it's also grown in Europe, but in general blush pears don't store that well, so there is a well-defined Northern Hemisphere and a well-defined Southern Hemisphere season, and the two dovetail nicely. When the Northern Hemisphere finishes we move in, and vice versa, and the QTee pear is on the shelf for twelve months, creating the brand exposure one is looking for."
Investment in South African pear farms is largely into blush pear orchards and he maintains that the category will, without doubt, still grow substantially.
"The 2025 pear crop looks good. We're expecting a really good quality harvest and we're very pleased with the volumes. And the port of Cape Town is doing better than in the past. The industry put in a lot of work, and the improvement is palpable."
For more information:
Calla du Toit
Tru-Cape
Email: info@tru-cape.co.za
https://www.tru-cape.com/