The prices of certain pear varieties are slightly higher this year, but production costs have also risen in Netherlands

The pear season is slowly winding down in the province of Lleida, one of the largest growing areas for this fruit in Spain. Prices are better than last year, especially for the Williams, Abate Fetel and Bartlett varieties. But production costs have also generally increased. "We started selling the first Castell pears on June 20, followed by the Moratini pears, and a little later Limonera, Ercolini, Williams and Conference. We are still picking pears and those go directly to the cold storage," says Francisco Cunillera, director of Trecoop, a cooperative with branches in the municipalities of Montoliu and Sudanell, in the province of Lleida, which grows and markets between 10 and 12 million kilos of pears per year. Pears represent about 80% of the producer association's fruit production: It is their core business. According to data from Prognosfruit, the European pear harvest will decrease by 28% this year to 1.6 million tons, mainly due to the significantly lower volumes in Italy ...