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The Consumer's View of Fresh Pears 

 William J. Bramlage 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



A ripe pear can be a true delicacy, yet consumption of pears ranks far 

 below that of fruits such as oranges, apples, and bananas. Why don't we eat 

 more pears? A very interesting picture emerges from a study conducted in 

 England, entitled "The Pear Situation 1976" and published by The Apple and Pear 

 Development Council. As a part of this study housewives who were regular buyers 

 of fruit were interviewed, including ones who purchased pears frequently, irre- 

 gularly, or not at all . 



Why buy pears ? Consumers purchased fruit for the following purposes: as a 

 dessert; as a snack; for inclusion in lunch boxes or picnic baskets; and for 

 casual eating, such as while watching TV. The main reasons for not ordinarily 

 purchasing pears were that the consumers either did not like them or because 

 they considered pears unsuitable for certain of these purposes, especially for 

 inclusion in lunch boxes and for casual eating. 



Pears were considered unsuitable for lunch boxes primarily because they 

 were thought to be too fragile, while the main objection to them for casual 

 eating was that you cannot casually eat a ripe pear! Unlike apples or bananas, 

 pears usually require a plate, a knife, and a napkin when eaten. This point was 

 emphasized by mothers with young children, who felt that the most satisfactory 

 way to serve pears to a child was to peel, slice, and core the fruit. 



Selecti on . In the store the consumers were searching for a basis on which 

 to predict the quality of pears. The most obvious possibilities are the 

 appearance and the variety name. However, variety names are not conspicuously 

 promoted and even when they are few consumers have sufficient knowledge to 

 relate quality with variety. Therefore, appearance is the al 1 -important factor 

 in choice of pears. Yet, consumers had little understanding of what to expect 

 from a pear's appearance. As a result, purchase of pears was very risky. Many 

 of those interviewed were unwilling to subject themselves to criticism from the 

 rest of the family, so they tended to avoid this risk and make a "safe" purchase 

 of other fruit. 



What is so unpredictable about pears? First, their tendency to be hard 

 when the consumer wants them to be soft. A substantial portion of those inter- 

 viewed had little idea that pears could be ripened in the home, much less 

 knowledge of how to ripen them. Second, there was little perception of exactly 

 when a pear should be eaten. Therefore, when pears were purchased it was only 

 in small quantities and if the purchase proved disappointing the buyer usually 

 skinned pears for some time afterward. 



Acceptabi lity . Consumers were generally well aware of the health-giving 

 properties of apples and oranges, but they questioned the nutritional value of 

 pears. Housewives were particularly anxious to provide their children with 

 good, wholesome, fresh fruit and were unclear of the nutritional role of pears. 



There was also an image that pears tend to be more expensive than apples, 

 for example, and that pears therefore were a luxury item. This image plus the 

 uncertainty of quality were strong deterrents to regular purchases of pears. 



