A pear marketing order vote for Oregon and Washington passed with 99% support from both fresh pear and processed pear producers.

“It’s the best vote that we’ve ever had,” said Jim Morris, marketing and communications manager for Pear Bureau Northwest, which represents the fresh pear industry.

The May referendum showed growers representing 97% of fresh production and processors representing 98% of production volume voted to continue the marketing order for another six years.

Results were announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a news release earlier this month.

For the order to survive, two-thirds or more of producers, or producers representing two-thirds or more of production, needed to voice approval.

What does the order do?

Though the fresh and processed pear sectors are under the same marketing order, either side could have opted out.

The marketing order enables the industry and its committees to conduct promotion and marketing research, as well as promotions including paid advertising under the USDA’s oversight.

The assessment funding those activities is set at 38.5 cents per 44-pound carton, Morris said.

Pear Bureau Northwest receives advertising and promotional funds through the order, and its efforts to increase the appeal of pears appear to be working.

USDA data shows per capita fresh pear consumption increasing by 25% in recent years, going from 2.5 pounds in 2015 to 3 pounds per person in 2021, according to a Pear Bureau Northwest news release.

Morris said the group publishes a steady flow of pear recipes on social media and online to inspire consumers, works with retailers, and educates the public about the nutritional benefits of the fruit.

“We have a small team that makes sure the growers are getting a good return,” Morris added. “Having the confidence of the growers means everything to us.”

B.J. Thurlby, president of the Washington State Fruit Commission, said that the Processed Pear Committee, which he leads, has been focusing more heavily on school sales of canned pears, as well as USDA nutrition programs.

Promotions pay off

Promotional efforts also have paid off, prices for tons of processed pears continue to go up and there have been other positives, Thurlby added.

“We see a bright future versus maybe where we were 10 years ago, where the industry had a lot of extra fruit on hand. We’re not seeing a lot of inventory build up,” he said.

Kevin Moffitt, manager of the Fresh Pear Committee and president and CEO of Pear Bureau Northwest, said in a Aug. 17 news release that the pear marketing order, established in 1939, was the oldest continuously running federal order in the country.

The votes in the previous four referendums for fresh pear growers had been in the mid- to high-90% range, Moffitt added.

The USDA’s 2022 overview for Washington shows 284,450 tons of pears harvested in the state, with a production value of nearly $161 million.

Oregon’s 2022 overview listed 198,280 tons of pears harvested for a value of almost $91 million.

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