Interest in organic pears picking up

Supplies of organic pears out of Washington continue to be strong. Ethan Abendroth, senior buyer for Earl’s Organic Produce says it has good volumes of organic Bartlett, Anjou and Bosc and while the early fall red pear, the Starkrimson is wrapping up, its late fall counterpart red Anjou is taking its place. “We will have good strong fall supplies of organic pears at least through Thanksgiving,” says Abendroth.

He does note that Washington pears were later to start this year by about 10-14 days. “But seasonally we’re right where we need to be with availability,” he says.

Growing demand

At the same time, the demand for organic pears could be growing. “It seems like we’ve seen an increase in interest in pears in the number of boxes in the last few years,” Abendroth says, noting Earl’s Organic sells 40 lb. boxes of 100, 90 and 80ct although demand is less so for bagged fruit. “And as far as the varieties that move really well, Bartlett is always a crowd-pleaser. It’s a wonderful eating experience. And for color and palatability, the red pears are wonderful.”

As for pricing on organic pears, there is a slight increase this season in the FOB rates. “Aside from inflationary costs that we’re seeing across the board, everything is pretty much on par,” he says. “Transportation costs started to go up at the end of the last Washington season and it looks like they’ve stabilized at a high price. The freight is similar to the end of last season so we’re still experiencing $5/6/box freight down from the Pacific Northwest. Then the cost of labor and materials have also gone up.”