Belgian Conference pear primed for growth

Published Oct 2, 2024

Tridge summary

Belgian fruit exporters are preparing for the new Conference pear season, with expectations of higher quality fruits and shipments to global markets, including Asia. Despite lower prices compared to the previous season, the cost of Conference pears remains high for some export markets, and efforts are being made to expand into new Asian markets such as Thailand and Vietnam. Belgian exporters also face challenges in accessing Chinese markets due to specific phytosanitary requirements, and are exploring the potential of air shipments for vegetables, despite the high costs and limited space.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Belgian exporters are currently setting up programmes for the new Conference pear season and readying shipments for global markets, including Asia, according to Marc Evrard of Belgian Fruit Valley. “The quality of the fruit is good this season,” he says, “better than last year. Everything is looking good when it comes to taste, Brix and the size of the fruit.” Evrard reveals that current prices may not be as high as last season, but doesn’t consider this a major problem. “I think for some export markets, the fruit is still rather expensive,” he says. The Conference pear is the main Belgian export to the Asian region, and efforts are constantly being made to open up new markets for the product. “Thailand only opened up for Belgian Conference pears a couple of months ago, so our exporters are targeting that market at the moment,” says Laurent De Smedt of cooperative BelOrta. “Next season we want to have at least 10-20 containers there to start opening up the market. We are also ...

Source: Fruitnet