According to major Russian retailer, the Dixy Group, pears are one of the most favoured fruits in Russia, enjoying stable sales throughout the year.
The peak season for pears starts at the beginning of spring with the start of supplies from the Southern Hemisphere. The main varieties during that time period are the Vermont and the Packham.
“Before the embargo, Belgium and Holland had been the main supplier for pears. However, we were lucky that we also had contracts with suppliers outside of the EU, once the embargo hit, so we were able to quickly rearrange distribution with a minimal amount of disruption.” said a representative from the retail chain.
The main pear supplier has become Serbia during January-April, in addition to supplies coming from South Africa, Argentina and Chile from April to September.
Despite suffering frost damage in the spring, the retailer said that they had not noticed any supply issues from Serbia and that the prices are at the same level as last year.
“The green pear varieties remain the favourite amongst consumers, and we currently have the Williams and Chinese pear in our assortment.”
As soon as the Russian embargo was introduced back in 2014, Russian suppliers immediately started to develop this category, actively investing in new growing areas and creating their own supply chain, but the production is still not to the level to be able to cover the demands of the major retail chains.