The first shipments of pears from Chile have arrived on the East Coast of the United States. All fruit is arriving by ship, with no real demand for any early air arrivals. The shipments first arrived less than 2 weeks ago and supply is slowly beginning to build as more importers start to receive fruit. At this stage, volume is small as are the fruit sizes. However, suppliers have said prices are very high, despite the vast majority of the fruit being small."Some shippers have started bringing pears in as early as last week or even the week before," said one shipper on the East Coast. "Our first shipments are due this week. Volume is very small at this stage and it will build up week by week. Fruit sizes on early shipments are also small. However, prices are very high, even on the smaller sized fruit but should settle down once sustained supply is established. The Chilean volume will continue to build until the Argentine season begins."
Not competing with US fruit
There is still domestic supply in the US right now which will continue for another few months. The good news is that the fruit arriving from Chile will be filling gaps of varieties that have since concluded in the United States. Each variety will be coming in stages, as they come into season.
"Bartletts are the first pairs to arrive from Chile," the source said. "Then comes Packham, Bosc, followed by Anjou as well as Forelle later on. In the US, Bartlett finished last week for the most part, so the South American fruit will not compete. Then as the season progresses, varieties from Chile will largely take over supply once US domestic supply ends. The only variety where US and Chile fruit will overlap will be on the Anjou, a little later in the season."