Text entered

ENGLISH PEARS TO BE AVAILABLE ALL YEAR ROUND FOR FIRST TIME

Tesco

17 September 2010

English pears, considered by experts to be the best in the
world, are to become commercially available on UK high streets all
year round for the first time ever.
Normally English pears are only on sale for the UK season, which
lasts from September until May.
But a breakthrough in storage technology has meant that pears
can now be kept in prime condition for far longer.
And an exclusive trial of Conference pears at Tesco stores over
the last three months has been such a success that the supermarket
will from now on be able to exclusively offer all year round
English pears.
Said Tesco pear buyer David Croxson: “Achieving all year
round availability for UK grown pears has long been the Holy Grail
for our home pear industry.
“It’s never been done on a commercial scale because
the cost of the precision machinery needed to keep vast amounts of
pears suitably chilled during storage has been prohibitive.
“But this major breakthrough by one English grower will
send out a positive signal to the rest of the pear industry to show
it can be done.
“And it will allow UK retailers to cut down on importing
out-of-season pears from Holland and Spain.”
The breakthrough has been made by Tesco’s biggest pear
supplier, Adrian Scripps Ltd, based in Kent.
They have invested in new £60,000 state of the art storage
centre and machinery which allows pears to be monitored for
perfection at every stage of the process - from picking to when
they are brought to store.
The process involves checking pears for firmness and sugar
levels while they are still on the tree to ensure they are at their
optimum level for storage.
Explained James Simpson, managing director of Adrian Scripts
Ltd: “The new machinery allows us to refine the storage
process and make changes down to a tiny degree.
“We test the pears for sugar content, fruit firmness and
starch levels three or four times a week while they are still on
the tree before sending them to be stored.”
Once harvested, by hand, the pears are rapidly cooled, taking
off their ‘field heat’ in under 48 hours before being
placed in large 400kg bins with plastic lids which help retain the
moisture during storage.
To ensure that the pears do not freeze, new monitoring equipment
including CCTV, has been bought.
Ends
For more information please contact Mike Baess on
01992 646079
or Tesco Press Office on 01992 644645.