Conditioning of pears so they’re ready to eat when purchased can boost retail sales, but there’s a lack of consistency in how it’s being done, according to the Pear Bureau Northwest. D’Anjou pears are unripe when harvested and need to be held in cold storage for a time in order to ripen properly when purchased. After chilling, they ripen more consistently to a juicy, buttery texture. Most d’Anjou pears are shipped straight from cold storage, but an increasing volume is being conditioned at the packing house so the pears begin to ripen and are ready to eat on the retail […]