Pear Storage
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The coronavirus pandemic has changed America’s food shopping habits. We’re stocking up on certain things like toilet paper, cleaning solutions, and various meat products.
But, Pear Bureau Northwest’s Kathy Stephenson says don’t forget those delicious pears …
STEPHENSON … “With us, our habits now are to not go to the grocery store quite as frequently. I’m not buying my produce on a weekly basis. I’m really looking for things that I can store well if I can’t make it to the grocery store for two weeks or whatever. So, how do pears fit into that?”
With these changes, Stephenson says comes an addendum to their pear ripening mantra …
STEPHENSON … “We’re always telling people to bring those pears home and put them on the counter to ripen. That’s our process and people need to know though that they’re very storable. So, while they can ripen on the counter, you don’t have to consume them right away. Now, we’re really making sure people know the last part of that message which is put them in the fridge once they’re ripe.”
Stephenson says it’s a slight, but important twist to enjoying pears longer …
STEPHENSON … “It’s always interesting is that we spent, at this point, generations talking about how pears ripen on the counter and that they, if you put them in the fridge, they won’t ripen. But, now we’re trying to make people understand that the fridge is a great place to store pears and to keep them so that you can use them as your family needs.”
Stephenson says without a reversal, we’re trying to make sure people know pears are quite storable and refrigeration can help with that.
