Pears Are Healthy Pt 1

Pears Are Healthy Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. We always seem to be looking for the next-best thing, even with the food we eat. Growers know that, and that’s one of the reasons we see new varieties on the shelves from time to time.

But, Pear Bureau Northwest President Kevin Moffitt says it hasn’t always been that way …

MOFFITT … “In the old days, frankly, growers would grow a variety and that’s what they would sell and these are the attributes they have. Well, if we are going to invest in a new variety, we need to find a variety that really hits the consumer in the right place, that they like it.”

While it needs to taste good, Moffitt says one of the big selling points these days is the health benefits …

MOFFITT … “Yeah it is, and with COVD people are looking for different, well fruits and vegetables in general and then within that category, you know, and antioxidant or high in vitamin C. The citrus category just blew up, in a good way, because of the vitamin C in that.”

But Moffitt says pears have that too …

MOFFITT … “We have vitamin C in the pears, but we also have fiber is our big story. And fiber can help in ways of weight control, diabetics can have pears because the fiber helps the slow release of the sugars, it makes you feel full, it has a lot of other benefits as well, gut health and things like that.”

And, they’re good for the heart …

MOFFITT … “We have pushed that. We have the heart-healthy American Heart Association brand that we can use on our website and on packaging for pears. So yeah, that’s definitely a way we continue to need to push.”

Tune in tomorrow for more on pears and their health-conscious consumers.

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