Launching a new pear variety into Canadian marketplace

Mar 30, 2015

Vineland Growers’ Co-operative Ltd. is working, in collaboration with Ontario Tender Fruit Marketing Board and Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, to launch a new premium pear variety into the Canadian marketplace. Approved for up to $282,879 under Growing Forward 2 (GF2), this project will share the story of the new pear variety across the value chain and will also focus on extending the season during which Ontario-grown pears may be kept in cold storage and supplied to the market, as this particular variety has a longer shelf-life when compared to current pear varieties.

This project consists of several activities, which were developed from a previous GF2 capacity building project that completed a marketing strategy for the product. This project will conduct consumer research to determine an appropriate name for the pear variety. Creative design work and messaging will be developed for use on packaging and promotional materials to present a consistent, upbeat image of the pear and to gain consumer recognition of the variety.

The pear will be introduced to merchandisers from across Canada during the Canadian Produce Marketing Association trade show in April, 2015, and then to consumers at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in November, 2015. Following this, the variety will be presented to consumers at the individual grocery store level through in-store signage, promotional materials, and sampling/tasting. The three collaborators will share the progress of the project through social media platforms, articles, newsletters and website updates.

For growers, the pear was chosen on account of its positive agronomic traits; high yielding, disease resistant especially to fire blight, and storage quality. For consumers, it was chosen on account of its appealing aroma, flavour and texture attributes identified through consumer preference evaluations. The convergence of these benefits on both the production and marketing ends of the spectrum is expected to result in premium price points leading to greater profitability for growers and the value chain.

This project will ensure that the new pear variety is well received by Ontario consumers, that it is recognized as unique and sought after, and that it returns a premium to all partners in the value chain, including the retailer and the grower. This pear variety could move Ontario into a position of global leadership enabling the pear to be licensed to other parts of the world with an “Ontario first” innovation.

This project is funded in part through GF2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. The Agricultural Adaptation Council assists in the delivery of GF2 in Ontario.

Source: AAC

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That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.