The pear campaign is already underway for the PDO Pera de Lleida with the marketing of the Limonera variety. The Blanquilla variety has already been harvested and will begin to be sold next week, while the Conference, a variety that represents around 65% of total sales, is also being harvested now.
According to Lourdes Salazar, Commercial Director of this brand, "the Regulatory Board is very strict and rigorous in controlling the quality of the product that goes on the market. The producers covered by the PDO must follow the guidelines for the harvest at exactly the right moment, taking into account the sweetness, penetromy and aesthetics of the fruit to ensure that it can be labelled by the PDO. We always hit the market a little later than standard pear producers, but this guarantees that we can offer an extraordinary product."
The campaign has started well for the PDO Pera de Lleida in terms of production, sales and prices. "The yields are being somewhat lower than last season for the Blanquilla and Limonera, while the Conference will see a slight increase in production. The calibres are adequate, taking into account that they cannot be smaller than 60-65 in order to qualify for the PDO."
Lourdes Salazar, Commercial Director
As regards sales and the prices of the first Limonera pears, "the start of the season has so far been satisfactory. Prices are much higher than at this time last year. We hope that this trend will continue throughout the campaign, also for the other varieties," says Lourdes Salazar. There will be availability of Limonera pears until October, of Blanquilla until March and of Conference until June, depending on the market demand.
According to WAPA's estimates, the European pear production will grow by 4% this year and prices may suffer. The commercial director believes that "since we have a differentiated product, I don't think we'll be significantly affected. Belgian and Dutch pears are strong in terms of volume, but not when it comes to sweetness," she says. "Pears under the PDO can only be sold as Extra or First quality. The standards set by buyers are increasingly demanding, and they know that buying a pear protected by a PDO guarantees a differentiated quality, especially in terms of sweetness, since it is the sweetest pear in the market, according to the tastings." Lourdes Salazar explains that the product's differentiation in terms of quality is such that most of the marketing budget goes to organising tastings at points of sale. "We are sure that if consumers try these pears, they will not want anything else. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding."
As for the destination markets, the Commercial Director says that "it is still a young PDO, so the main market for these pears is the domestic one, and consolidating our position in it is one of our main objectives. Outside Catalonia, there are parts of Spain where they don't know us, and this year we want to give a boost to the pear's promotion in any of those areas. Once we achieve a greater development in the domestic market, we will consider expanding to the international market."
The cultivation and packaging areas of the PDO Pera de Lleida are located in the south of the province of Lleida; an area which includes the municipality of Lleida and some neighbouring towns in the districts of Noguera, El Segrià, El Urgell, El Pla d'Urgell and Les Garrigues. Even though pears are also grown in the rest of Lleida, only the aforementioned regions are authorised for cultivation under the PDO.
"I really want to thank the producers under the umbrella of the PDO for their work and dedication. Without them, it would not be possible to have such a product," said Lourdes Salazar.
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Lourdes Salazar