The pear variety Qtee has experienced a considerable growth in recent years, and in the past five years it has been planted in several countries. For example, there are now trees in Spain, Switzerland, South Africa, Slovakia, Austria, France, Morocco, Italy and Australia. Demand for these pears continues to grow, and as a result, so does supply.
Fruithandel Wouters takes care of Qtee sales with Fresh Fruit Services. Kris Wouters of Fruithandel Wouters: “Qtee is doing very well. We were at the Fruit Logistica with the new harvest from South Africa, and we received many positive responses. The past season, we picked 1,250 tonnes of Qtee pears in Belgium. Besides, we had nearly 100 tonnes in Spain, nearly 100 tonnes in Slovakia and 60 tonnes in Switzerland. With these amounts, we were able to provide several export destinations with Qtee pears. We therefore exported to various markets, including several countries in Europe, but interest in our pears was also large in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.”
The South African harvest.
The Qtee is popular because of its early harvest. In South Africa in particular, the growers were looking for a pear that could be harvested earlier than the late Forelle pear. “The Forelle is a popular pear in South Africa, this is also a red-blushed pear. Because Qtee can be harvested earlier than Forelle, growers were very interested in this variety.
Forelle pears have to be kept in cold store for a month after harvesting before they can be sold. This is because Forelle is a proper winter pear that gets its flavour from the cold. By keeping them in cold store for a month, we have two months to sell Qtee in South Africa before Forelle arrives on the market. We have now stopped planting Qtee in Belgium. We want to continue providing our growers with a good price, they’ve also taken a risk after all, which is why we want to prevent an overabundance, and see if we can successfully sell the next harvest as well. As soon as the sales are successful and we plant more area, the pears will also be grown in the Netherlands. We’re already talking to various parties, and last August to October, Qtee could also be found on the shelves of Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn. We’re therefore hoping to also plant the trees in the Netherlands in future.”
The fruit company doesn’t just have Qtee pears. Besides these pears, Conference pears and Jonagold apples are also harvested. Kris can be very brief about this season’s apple harvest. “It was a bad apple year in Belgium. On average, only 20 per cent of apples were picked compared to a good year. We have some small amounts left in cold store, and then it’s over. Because there are so few apples on the market, prices for Conference pears are dropping. Right now, the growers have plenty of employees for sizing, and when no apples can be sorted anymore, they’ll continue with pears. Because of this, there’s now a surplus on the market. The pear harvest wasn’t too bad, although the pears are slightly smaller than in previous years due to the frost. A regular amount has been picked, their weight is just a bit lower.”
For the coming season, Wouters is hoping it’ll be a season without frost. “I hope we have a mild spring without frost in the coming season, and that we can sell a larger volume of Qtee. For us, the most important thing is that the growers get a good price for their products. That’s why we temporarily halted the planting of new trees, so that we can guarantee this,” Wouters concludes.
For more information:
NV Fruithandel Wouters R&Co
Kasteellaan 21
3454 Rummen
Belgium
Tel.: +3211586190
GSM: +32475283696
Fax: +3211581041