Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/717894
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower SEPTEMBER 2016 11 To condition pears, shippers warm the fruit to roughly 65 degrees, gas for roughly 24 hours and then cool to 32 degrees or so. The process takes three to four days. However, the fruit still is not ready to eat. It has another three or four days to ripen, allowing time for shipment. The ethylene treatment "is like we kick-start the process to a certain point," said Josh Dailey, assistant shipping manager for Blue Star. Retailers routinely condition bananas in ethylene chambers in their distribution centers, but not as often for pears, avocados, mangoes and tomatoes. They often don't have the space and prefer to use their limited capacity for bananas. Some also fear it will increase their shrink due to pears going bad before purchase. Only five — Raley's, Thrifty Foods, United Supermarkets, Wal-Mart and Wegmans — treat pears in their own facilities, according to a roster from the Northwest Pear Bureau. Wal-Mart was one of the first, said Gary Campisi, senior director of quality control for Wal-Mart's fresh grocery division. The retail giant started conditioning bananas in 1993 as soon as it began building its own distributions centers. The company started with pears around 2000 to prep the fruit for in-store samples and customers loved it. "It doesn't take a whole lot of leap of logic to figure that one out," he said. Today, Wal-Mart conditions Bartletts and d'Anjous in all 44 of its distribution centers, using the same 600 ethylene rooms as bananas, Campisi said. They do not condition Bosc pears because they don't sell as many, and customers have a wider variety of preference for the ripeness level of Bosc pears than d'Anjous and Bartletts. Wal-Mart also buys pears conditioned by the shipper but will run them through the chambers again if the pres- sure of the fruit is above 12 psi. "My personal opinion is the retailer who is closer to the customer" bears the responsibility for conditioning, Campisi said, arguing he would rather control the qual- ity of his customer's eating experience than someone else. "If you're focused on sales, on top line sales, then you are going to want to have a good ripening program," he said. "Not just the one-time sale but the repeat sale." • Blue Star Growers marks all ethylene conditioned pears in cold storage with a "TR" for treated. W W W.W I L L A M E T T E N U R S E R I E S .C O M ( 503 ) 263-6405 TOLL FREE: ( 800 ) 852-2018 Prunus avium/P. mahaleb M.106/M.7/M.26/B.118 Gisela Series Kyrmsk Series OHxF Series Geneva® Series M.9 Clones CANBY, OREGON are planted with the most popular seedling, semi-dwarf and dwarf varieties: Like our rootstock, our service will grow on you. All Fruit tree rootstock is Oregon certified virus-free. We also grow a great selection of rootstock varieties for apple, peach pear and plum including: MALUS ANTONOVKA MALUS DOMESTICA PRUNUS PERSICA 'LOVELL' PRUNUS CERASIFERA PRUNUS MARIANA PRUNUS MYROBALAN PYRUS CALLERYANA PYRUS COMMUNIS PYRUS USSERIENSIS PROVENCE QUINCE APPLE PEACH PLUM PEAR - Labeled for two (2) treatments: Additional protection for High-Density production - Rozol paraffi nized pellets are ideal for wet conditions - Labeled for preventative perimeter broadcast and bait station treatment* Voles gnaw on tree trunks and roots (girdling) causing disruption of the tree's fl ow of nutrients and water. OUTSTANDING VOLE CONTROL Learn More Protect Your Orchard Ph: 888-331-7900 • www.liphatech.com Meadow vole. High-Density Orchards Require Intensive Vole Management with * to border areas and buffer strips adjacent to crops. Not labeled for broadcast in CO, FL, NY or VT. Do not apply directly to food or feed crops except as specifi ed on the label.