Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/54939
OxiDate 2.0 Contr O D ols r xi a Fir OxiDate® Fie Blight on Po e Blight on Pome Fruits r te 2.0 Cont 2.0 eradicates Fire Blight on contact, providing an effective alternative to traditional treatment. EPA Registered No mutational resistance Spray through bloom period Exempt from pesticide tolerances - No MRLs Can be rotated with biological based bactericides/fungicides m e F ru its "We only sell three pounds of pears per person per year in the United States. That's embarrassing." —Mike Taylor agriculture from Washington State University, and a mas- ter's in supply chain management from the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology, also looked at the impact of imports from Argentina, which is the largest overseas supplier of pears to the U.S. market. As Argentine Williams (Bartlett) pears come onto the market in spring, movement of U.S. pears goes down, and the industry typically reacts with lower prices. Imports from Argentina tend to be concentrated in markets close to the ports where the fruit arrives. For example, in 2011, 68 percent of Argentina's exports arrived in Philadelphia, 25 percent arrived in Delaware, and 6 percent arrived in Los Angeles, California. Foreman said that Argentina is able to supply pears at a relatively low cost. He said that he received a quote of $4,750 from a shipping company for shipping 1,000 boxes of pears from Argentina to Philadelphia, which is less than it costs to truck 1,000 boxes from Seattle to Philadel- phia. If the industry takes the stance that it needs to defend all its U.S. retail accounts, the only way to accom- plish that is by lowering prices across the board, Foreman said, but if they reduce prices to the level of Argentine imports, they are giving up value that could be captured in U.S. markets where Argentine pears are not sold. Foreman suggested it might be possible for Northwest 100 YEARS Because we offer the QUALITY you expect and deserve! marketers to allow Argentina to service certain U.S. mar- kets and maintain higher prices in others where the Northwest has a relative advantage. These include states like Utah, Michigan, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. Expanding export markets and simultaneously giving up certain segments of the domestic market to Argentina might be ways to maintain higher prices and generate higher returns to producers, Foreman concluded. "It's possible that when we focus on retailers and defend those accounts, we are reinforcing an optimal world for retailers, and not our industry," he said. "The value-sharing game appears to be mostly between our industry and U.S. retailers and, counter-intuitively, we can capture more value by taking actions that invite more Argentine imports." Taylor, at Stemilt, felt that offering different prices to different retailers would be problematic because most of the big retail companies have a multistate presence and a national buying office. "When we sell pears to Walmart, they want to buy them for New York and Colorado. We're going to give them the same price." He noted that Argentina brings in Williams pears after Northwest Bartletts are finished for the season, and the Northwest pear industry has the challenge of trying to sell d'Anjou pears, which stay green as they mature, along- side the Argentine Williams, which turn yellow, juicy, and sweet. "The right way to do that is to go to similar retail pricing and promote the whole pear category, and work on the flavor profile of the d'Anjous to make them competitive," he suggested. He believes that prices should match Argentina's, and the d'Anjou pears should be preripened so that retailers expand the shelf space for pears. "We need more promotion, and we need to offer con- Your Krymsk® 5 & 6 Headquarters! 100 Years at Newcastle, Ca 800-675-6075 FowlerNurseries.com FowlerNurseries.com 10 FEBRUARY 15, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER sumers a choice," he said. "We only sell three pounds of pears per person per year in the United States. That's embarrassing. If we improve the flavor of our winter pears, which is our mainstay, that's where the volume is. If we could move that to four pounds, we could hardly get the trees planted fast enough to fill the marketplace. Flavor is the key, and repeat sales." • www.goodfruit.com