During the Pear Bureau Northwest’s annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, last summer, its regional managers proposed ideas on how to strengthen demand for Comice pears. Tim Corkill, regional manager for the West and Southwest, suggested that the variety needs to be reintroduced to the market with small, one-layer packages, similar to gift packs, and through sampling programs. This ties in with the Pear Bureau’s plan to do more in-store sampling this season. “Retailers are looking for uniqueness and new varieties,” Corkill told growers at the meeting. “It may still be a Comice, but how do you repackage and reenergize it? […]