"In particular, the quality of Abate pears from Chile was not very good due to russeting and to the fact that there was a lot of deformed fruit. In addition, prices were too high for a produce that had to deal with both the economic crisis and competition from other seasonal products."
Early harvesting in Italy
The first Italian pears were harvested 10-12 days earlier than usual. "Harvesting of Morettini and S.Maria apples started on 8th-10th July. The harvesting of Williams is almost over and the first Abate pears were harvested 5-6 days ago. It seems that Benelux too started harvesting early, also so they could sell the produce more quickly in view of the Russian ban."