P2829 pear Fruitmasters

Dutch fresh produce company Royal Fruitmasters has announced the launch of a new club variety of pear via European Fruit Co-operation (EFC), the joint venture it owns with Belgian auction house Veiling Haspengouw and German supplier Wog Raiffeisen.

The pear, currently known as P2829, will be planted for the first time in 2013 and is a smooth, green-skinned variety that reportedly tends towards larger sizes and offers good-tasting fruit.

The variety was officially unveiled during Fruitmasters' annual growers day, where Jef Vercammen of breeder PCFruit and Ilse Hayen of EFC confirmed plans were in place to launch a brand identity and marketing strategy for the pear in the near future.

As with Kanzi, a club variety of apple developed recently for the European market by Fruitmasters and its partners, P2829 has been developed with the retail sector in mind, where its marketers expect it to generate strong sales under a distinct, protected trademark.