In Europe pears are grown on a surface area of about 10,000 ha. However, production is moving slowly from Italy to the Netherlands and Belgium. For years, Italy was the biggest producer of pears in Europe. After a number of bad years due to crop failures, many growers turn their backs on growing pears and are looking for other kinds of fruit as alternatives for growing pears. On top of this, Italy has lost its dominant position of the Abate Fetel variety on the German market. This variety has lost more and more ground to Conference from the Netherlands and Belgium. Meanwhile, Conference has a share of 35% on the German market, whereas the share of Abate Fetel has fallen to 12%. (Source: Prognosfruit)
