“The first Corina® pears have been picked and the first shipments have left. Prospects are good, because the Corina® arrives on an empty market,” says Willy Dillen, coordinator of the Corina® pear. “The effect of the dry weather fortunately remained limited. Sizes are a bit smaller this year, but flavour and brix values are high. The numbers aren’t that different from last year either.” The most important sales market of the Corina® is the UK, followed by Sweden and Norway, but also Belgium and the Netherlands. Some volumes will also be sent to France for the first time this year.
The Corina® pear is a mutant of the Conference, and the pear is ripe about three weeks earlier than Conference. Regarding appearance and flavour, the Corina® can’t be distinguished from Conference. “The Corina® lends itself to bridge the gap between the old Conference stocks and the new harvest. The Corina® is exclusively grown in Belgium on 80 to 90 hectares. Volumes are slightly more than two million kilos, and are quickly sold in one to two weeks,” Willy says. The Corina® name is used between distributors and their customers.
“We’ve decided to have a break in production. A number of plantations are still young, so production of these will increase. For the sales period of about two weeks, a maximum of three million kilos is enough to meet demand. Right now we’ll have to wait and see how the market develops, and we’ve seen Corina® doing well alongside Conference. Markets that are interested in Conference are also interested in Corina®. Although Corina® is only available for a short period, we’re feeling very positive this year. Because the market is empty, we expect a correct price, although we’ll have to wait to see if we’ll get it,” Willy concludes.
For more information:
Willy Dillen
+32(0)494 46 94 87