Belgian top fruit growers have had a hectic spring. It was long, dark, and then dry in recent weeks, so the new crop required hard work. "The new QTee pear season, however, looks good, but this harvest, too, will be a bit later than previous years," Kris Wouters of Fruithandel Wouters tells us.
Last year, these pears had a good season with excellent quality. The trader expects that same quality this year. "A first rough estimate shows we'll get relatively normal yields of 4,000 to 5,000 tons, with exceptionally good quality again." The gloomy spring caused concern for many growers.
But the recent warm, sunny weather seems to have done the fruit some good. "Fortunately, we had virtually no frost damage in the spring, and there's not been any hail yet either. However, we'll have to closely monitor quality due to the current dry, hot conditions," says Kris.
Harvesting should begin between August 10 and 15. "As long as the pears aren't in the fridges, anything can still happen. In fact, pear leaf blight control has been quite problematic. After the rain, most of those worries subsided somewhat, but I'm still not 100% certain things will work out. This could still derail things. Something can always happen, but for now, it looks promising. The market will be completely empty when the pears are picked, so sales should be good. That's the case with Conference pears, too, by the way."
"Most of the size 60/65 QTee pears go to England. The smaller sizes go more to the Middle East, and the larger ones to Belgian, German, and Scandinavian supermarkets. We market the QTees where Conferences don't sell. Those are regions where people prefer the smooth QTees. We, thus, spread our risks and can market our pears worldwide," Kris concludes.
For more information:
Kris Wouters
Fruithandel Wouters
21 Kasteellaan
3454, Rummen, Belguim
Tel: +32 (0) 475 283 696
Email: kris@woutersfruit.be
Website: www.woutersfruit.be