<p>Stemilt’s premium river valley pear program is growing the category industry-wide. The company has helped the industry realize huge category growth through the first four months of the season. According to the company’s recent analysis of retail scan data from Nielsen Perishables Group, D’Anjou pears were up 24% in volume and nearly 26% in dollar sales year over year according to national composite data from September through December 2013, a Stemilt press release states. Other key pear varieties including Red d’Anjou, Bartlett, and Bosc also noted growth in both categories.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“Though no two crop years are ever the same – and the 2013-14 crop is up in volume and fruit size is larger than the prior crop – the fact that dollar sales have increased for d’Anjou and other key varieties along with volume increases shows that consumer demand for pears is very strong,” states Roger Pepperl, Stemilt Marketing Director. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Pepperl notes that there are a number of factors that have led to the pear category increases including the harvest in the Northwest being slightly earlier than normal allowing retailers to get a jump on the pear season. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The total pear crop is up over last year due to this “on” year for pears with fruit size running a size larger this year.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“About 10% of the volume increase for d’Anjou pears can be attributed to fruit size. Customers might be picking up the same number of pears, but are bringing home more weight when they buy bulk simply because fruit size is larger at retail,” said Pepperl.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Pepperl believes that increased attention on ripening programs for d’Anjou, value bag offerings, and putting multiple varieties on ad each month is also elevating the pear category.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“Here at Stemilt, our pear program has really benefitted over the past several years from capital investments, new products, and a focus on getting multiple pears on ad every month during the fall and winter season. The increased shelf space for pears during a multi-pear ad often results in 15-20% increases in volume when compared to one item pear ads,” said Pepperl.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Stemilt pears come primarily from two renowned locales – the Wenatchee River Valley and the Entiat River Valley. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“Our increased investment in packing lines and pear ripening has resulted in a better consumer eating experience. We already benefit from tremendous pear quality thanks to the location of our pear orchards, and so we focus on tight inventory turns and delivering ready-to-eat pear pressures to retail on normally hard-to-ripen varieties like d’Anjou and Red d’Anjou,” said Pepperl.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Stemilt has also increased the volume of bag offerings to provide added value to the pear category. The company includes four varieties of pears in its trademarked Lil Snappers line of kid-sized fruits, and also provides retailers with high-graphic half tri-wall bins.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“Our pear half tri-wall bins are a great in-and-out merchandising tool to move 5-pound bags of pears,” said Pepperl. “It adds one more item to the mix to elevate the category and really appeals to value shoppers.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>On the horizon, Pepperl expects the pear category increases to level down a bit through the spring months as seasonal items – like cherries – start to take some shelf space in produce departments.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“It’s always our goal at Stemilt to continuously improve pear quality in order to provide consumers with an unforgettable eating experience. It’s great to see our efforts pay off in the form of strong category growth nationally,” said Pepperl.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.stemilt.com/fresh-fruit/pears/" target="_new"> Stemilt Growers </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
