“We really got our rear ends kicked this year by Argentine pears being in the marketplace when we started our harvest,” says Chris Zanobini, executive director of the California Pear Advisory Board.
Zanobini says California used to have a thriving pear industry, where growers used to produce around 320,000 tons about 25 years ago. This year, it was around 107,000 tons, or around 30% of U.S. pear production.
“They’re stewards of the land,” he says of the state’s 60-plus growers that farm around 4,000 acres. “In California, we have to adhere to the strictest environmental policies.
The majority of those pears, bartlett and bosc, are for processing. But, Zanobini says the state’s growers pride themselves on growing for the fresh market, too. He estimates that about 1.4 million 36-pound boxes go to the fresh market.
“We tend to operate within our market window, which is right around the first of July,” he says. “We like to be done by October, because we don’t like to compete with the Northwest, and neither does the Northwest like us to compete with them.”
And Zanobini says that the relationship between the California pear season and the Pacific Northwest’s pear season has been good. Except when imports get added to the mix. He estimates that since 2016, Argentine imports have increased 125%. He says those pears, treated with ethylene inhibitors, help importers store pears for a long time.
“Argentina’s harvest is in December and January,” he says. “So those pears can store for a very long period of time.”
Zanobini says that while Argentina supplies about 90% of pears during the winter months, about 70% of pear imports from Argentina arrive in April and May, right before the start of the next California season. This year, importers brought pears to the U.S. through September. And, as a result, a major retailer delayed its California pear program by a month as a result.
“That was about 10% of the crop that got pushed back,” he says. “And it was at a premium price.”
He says that really hurt the state’s pear growers, who have farmed since the Gold Rush.
“We still have some of those same families that started back then, still growing pears,” he says. “Finally, our guys said enough’s enough.”
Zanobini says as a response, industry leaders have begun discussions with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to help California growers find relief. He sees this as a good time to help prevent Argentinian pears from undercutting U.S. growers.
“We said the time is the opportunity is right now to try to get something to happen,” he says. “There’s all these great things about producing fruits and vegetables in California. And, I guess we have to fight for our right to do that.”
