Pear Bureau Northwest shares how to increase sales of pears

The Pear Bureau Northwest, based in Milwaukie, Oregon, USA, commissioned a test through Nielson/Perishables group in 2012. It showed that stores having conditioned pears increased their sales 19.5% more than the control stores (not carrying conditioned pears). Sales continued to increase after the 12-weeks for conditioned pears.

President & CEO of Pear Bureau Northwest Kevin Moffitt explains that the Pear Bureau continues to tracks real world success in retailers that have undertaken a conditioned pear program in recent years: "the results in many of the stores nearly doubled the numbers seen during the test", - he states.

After shippers recognized the success of preconditioned banana and plantain sales in mid 1990's, pear conditioning began. "We have been promoting it to shippers and retailers ever since; there are currently 49 retailers in the US and Canada who carry conditioned pears," Moffitt explained.

The Pear Bureau Northwest describes conditioned pears as pears that have been brought to the “just starting to ripen" state. Conditioning refers to the application of ethylene, a natural plant hormone produced by fruit as it ripens. To begin this process for pears, the commodity is placed in a ripening room, warmed to room temperature, and treated with ethylene. Once desired firmness is reached, temperature is rapidly brought down to 0°C (32°F). Other factors that must be managed include the time of ethylene application, pulp temperature, humidity, and CO₂ levels.

“Gone are the days where shoppers picked up a pear at the local grocery store and found the fruit as hard as a rock,” explains Greg Akins, President & CEO of Catalytic Generators. "Nowadays, customers expect uniformly ripe, ready to eat pears, and that’s what our ethylene generators help to provide." Ripeners can find complete guidelines for conditioning pears