Sunland-Tujunga is a community of about 50,000 people nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains but within the boundaries of the City of Los Angeles, on the edge of the San Fernando Valley. The Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club, which was founded in 1949, found itself about a dozen years later in need of a fundraising activity, so the Lions held a watermelon festival in 1961, inspired by the annual Kingsburg Watermelon Festival in Kingsburg, CA.

China has granted market access to the American pear industry, and prospects are thrilling to producers in the Pacific Northwest. “U.S. pears were granted access into China in January,” said Jeff Correa, international marketing director for the Pear Bureau Northwest. “A few containers were shipped in the 2012-13 season. The 2013-14 season will be the first full season where U.S.-grown pears will be able to enter China legally.

This season, the Pear Bureau Northwest, headquartered in Milwaukie, OR, will offer online training for produce personnel designed to boost retail sales. “The program will have several sections that will cover the basics such as pear handling, merchandising and talking points including how to tell when a pear is ripe and where they are grown; as well as nutrition and usage information,” said Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer. “It is designed to be thorough and immediately actionable, yet easy to understand and finish in a timely manner.”

Programs initiated by the Pear Bureau Northwest, headquartered in Milwaukie, OR, have been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Trade Programs — Foreign Agricultural Service as instrumental in setting export records for pear producers.

All-time records were set for volume of Oregon and Washington pear exports during the 2011-12 season as well as the value of pear exports during the 2012-13 season.

Howard Nager, vice president of marketing at Domex Superfresh Growers in Yakima, WA, said there will be increase in the company’s pear volume on the order of 20-30 percent during the 2013-14 season.

“We represent 10 percent of the volume of Northwest pears, shipping approximately two million boxes of pears,” Nager stated. Overall, he said quality looks good and all promotable sizes will be available.

“The crop looks to peak between 80s and 100s,” he told The Produce News. “Luckily, so far, weather has not been a factor on this year’s crop.”

Roger Pepperl, director of marketing for Stemilt Growers LLC in Wenatchee, WA, summed up the 2013-14 pear season. “It’s coming on fast,” he told The Produce News in late July. “We’ll start picking in mid-August. We might even be a little earlier than mid-August.”

Overall volume is expected to be up approximately 20 percent this season. “Bartletts will be up a little,” he stated. “Bosc will be up a lot. We have a good crop of Concordes. Anjous are going to be way up. It’s just a bigger crop.” In all, he expects Stemilt will market 2.2 million boxes of pears this season.