Rainier Fruit Co., headquartered in Yakima, WA, is poised to begin its pear season on an optimistic note. “Quality looks to be excellent, fruit is clean, and overall condition is very nice,” Director of Marketing Suzanne Wolter told The Produce News July 27. “Generally speaking, the growing season has been much more conducive for producing a high-quality product.” To date, there have been no significant effects to the fruit caused by weather events.

The company’s acreage has remained stable, and the same is true for its pear manifest. Rainier grows, packs and ships D’Anjou, Bosc, Bartlett, Comice, Asian, Seckel and Concorde pears as well as several red varieties.

“The harvest is expected to begin with average timing, unlike last season, which experienced a two-week delay due to an unseasonably cool, wet spring,” she said. “We’ll start with Bartlett and Starkrimson pears around Aug. 10. Harvest on all varieties will finish sometime in October.” D’Anjous will be harvested in early September, with Asian pears and Red D’Anjou coming into production during mid-September. Concorde pears will be harvested in late September.

Ms. Wolter was asked what kind of volume she anticipates for the current season and how it compares to 2011. “Our volume is off slightly from 2011’s record crop,” she replied. “We’ll have a good-volume crop with plenty of opportunity for promotions.”

With clean, quality fruit ready to move into the pipeline, Ms. Wolter added, “We’ll have a nice run of size, not weighted heavily to any one size profile this season.”

Organic pears comprise approximately 6 percent of the company’s overall volume. “Our organic volume is up 30 percent over last year,” Ms. Wolter commented.

Rainier Fruit markets pears to its global customers in all market sectors. “We pack the standard industry packages for all varieties,” she stated. “However, one main difference between Rainier and the rest of the industry is that all of our conditioned pears are packed in a vented euro box to ensure even, consistent fruit ripening throughout the pallet.”

According to Ms. Wolter, ripe pears are still new for many customers and therefore have the potential to change the pear category. “Consumers are looking for flavor, and conditioned D’Anjou pears are the perfect fit,” she noted. “A perfectly ripe D’Anjou pear is the juiciest, sweetest pear-eating experience any foodie will have. Retailers executing a ripe pear program have more than doubled their sales.”

Pears are also an impulse purchase, and merchandising strategies are important as a result. “Location has a direct impact on sales,” Ms. Wolter stated. “A front-of-department display location provides the best volume and dollar sales result. According to a 2009 Perishables Group study for the Pear Bureau Northwest, space allocation of 40 percent Anjou, 30 percent Bartlett, 15 percent Bosc and 15 percent other [varieties] yields the best sales results. And maximizing sales of Anjou and Bartlett has a direct positive correlation to category performance. Therefore, those retailers looking to take their pear sales to another level by implementing a ripe pear program also need to consider placement within the department. Simply putting the pears out with a sign isn’t enough.”