U.K.: early pears at Waitrose proving popular with consumers
Pear sales have been given a boast in Britain thanks to a popular TV show which showcased the fruit last week.
High end grocer Waitrose says it has witnessed a jump in pear sales since the Great British Bake Off featured a poached pear dessert as part of a series that invites contestants to show off their baking skills.
Waitrose says that following the BBC show, amateur cooks up and down the country have taken advantage of the fruit being in stores three weeks earlier than last year.
The early arrival is down to a good balance of rainfall and sunny weather in the U.K. earlier this year that brought forward harvests slightly and yielded good sized fruit with an intensely sweet flavor.
So far sales of loose pears are up by 38% and overall sales have increased 25% week-on-week at Waitrose.
Waitrose has been working with a core selection of English pear growers for more than 25 years offering the best of home-grown produce.
"English pears are a real autumnal treat so we’re lucky to be able to enjoy these earlier than usual," Waitrose buyer Greg Sehringer said in a release.
"It's a word usually associated with wine, but thanks to the recent weather this is a real vintage crop."
From next week the retailer will also be stocking the first crops of English Conference pears, closely followed in October by the new Best of British Pears, a branded four-pack variety.