QTee on the shelves already
Belgium started picking the first Conferences today. "They were sold, unpackaged, at auction for between EUR 0,50 and 0,95/kg." Kris says the QTee variety has been on the market for a couple of weeks already. "They are always ripe a few weeks before the Conference and are on the shelves at Albert Heijn in Belgium and the Netherlands, and Aldi in Germany. We will send to further destinations later in the season. These places still have the South African Forelle available."
The QTee harvest, at 1,2 million kg, is somewhat larger than last season. "The volume has more than doubled. There are more new orchards. We are pleased to see that the QTee seems to be frost-resistant. Compare this to the Doyenne du Comice, of which there are practically none in Belgium this season."
Good quality peel
He continues: "We irrigated some farms here in Belgium, which has resulted in larger fruit. The pears are 5 mm smaller than average. However, the producers who pruned well, got bigger pears. What amazes me is how good the peel quality is. We had comparable spring frost in 1991 and only two varieties survived. The pears were rough and deformed. Now the Conference's peels show hardly any sign that they were frozen." The internal quality of the pears is also good, according to Kris. "It was very sunny this summer. This increased the sugar quality to even higher than preceding seasons."
It is still too early for Kris to predict prices. "It is difficult to estimate. We know there are more smaller pears, which means the larger ones will probably be more expensive this season. There was a drop of only 1% in the pear harvest in Europe as a whole, so it is still unknown how the smaller ones will fare. We got good prices for the QTee, but we have better control over these since they are a club variety."
For more information:
NV Fruithandel Wouters R&Co
21 Kasteellaan
3454 Rummen - Belgium
Tel.: +32 11 586 190
GSM: +32 47 528 3696
Fax: +32 11 581 041
[email protected]
www.woutersfruit.be
NV Fruithandel Wouters R&Co
21 Kasteellaan
3454 Rummen - Belgium
Tel.: +32 11 586 190
GSM: +32 47 528 3696
Fax: +32 11 581 041
[email protected]
www.woutersfruit.be
