Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee, WA and Lantao of Shanghai, China have teamed up to be the first marketers of Starkrimson pears from Washington State in China under the new protocol between the United States and China announced earlier this year.
Just like their name implies, Starkrimson pears have a crimson red color that brightens as its ripens. They have a juicy texture and sweet flavor with a floral essence.
Mike Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Stemilt, feels that the Starkrimson Pear, because of it striking red color and sweet flavor, is a good multi-purpose pear well suited for the Chinese market. “Our experience is the Chinese consumer appreciates a sweet and juicy piece of fruit” said Taylor. “We expect there will be an education period to explain the difference between a typical Asian pear and our Western style pears. We feel very confident that Lantao, our partners in China, will do a great job in exposing both Starkrimsons and Anjous in the market, and increase their sales and acceptance with the Chinese consumers”.
Lantao has marketing and distribution facilities in six different markets in China, including the so-called “big three” Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou and also in the internal secondary cities of Shenyang, Zhengzhou and Harbin. “Although our initial introduction of the Starkimson pear will be in the primary markets, there has been plenty of growth in our secondary market cities for premium fruit from the United States” said John Wang, President of Lantao. “Our so-called second tier markets have populations of over ten-million people, with growing economies and a burgeoning middle-class.”
Dave Martin, Export Sales Director and Bill Young, Export Account Manager for Stemilt Growers were in China to see the first arrivals of the fruit earlier this month “China is one of our important export markets and we hope to achieve similar success with our pears as we have had with our apples and cherries.” Said Martin. “We appreciate working with Lantao because they seem to grasp our “philosophy” when it comes to openness, trust, honesty, commitment and the belief in the quality of our fruit.
Stemilt is a major grower of pears in the Wenatchee region in Washington State. Starkrimson pears will be followed with an extended program of Red and Green D’anjou pear shipments into the Chinese market maintaining a steady supply of Red and Green pears through the spring, and early summer months.
Contact: Mike Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Stemilt Growers
Office: 509-662-9667 Ext 1219
Contact: John Wang, President, Lantao Office
Phone China: 011 86-21-64346071, Cell USA: 416-990-8808
Contact: Jim Provost, Vice President North American Sourcing, Lantao.
Phone: 610-869-4664
Source: Stemilt Growers / I Love Provost