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| USA Pears: Russia is our 4th largest export market | | | | 2009-10-14 9:19:16 | | | Importance of Russian Market
"Regarding the Russian market, Russia is our 4th largest export market (following Mexico, Canada, and Brazil). It is a unique market for us in the fact that there are two markets within Russia for USA Pears – Western Russia and the Russian Far East. The pear industry has had a much longer history of shipping to the Russian Far East and it has a bigger window for USA Pears, September through to May. USA Pears growers began shipping to Western Russia in sizeable volumes about 6 seasons ago. In western Russia there is a much shorter window of availability for USA Pears, November through January, due to the competition from European pear suppliers and the Southern Hemisphere pears. Initially, Western Russia started out as a large size, lower grade market for USA Pear exporters. But it has evolved into a market that will take a range of grades, but still prefers the bigger sizes. The Russian Far East prefers the medium size pears (sizes 90’s to 110s) and a mix of grades (US #1 and Fancy). There is also a greater acceptance of some of the smaller produced varieties, like Forelle, Comice and Bosc in the Russian Far East. Both markets have a strong preference for the Red and Green Anjou varieties. And the Russian Far East has emerged as the industry’s 4th largest export market for the Bartlett variety.
Shipping since 1994
The US pear growers have been shipping to Russia since 1994. Exports peaked in 1997/98 with 158,000 boxes. The Russian Ruble crisis hit the country in 1998 and the US pear market also collapsed to 10,000 boxes in 1999/2000 season. The Pear Bureau continued with a small promotional program for USA Pears during this crisis and from 2002 to 2008, the industry saw sharp increases in the exports to Russia. In the 2007/08 season, exports reached a record high of 350,000 boxes.
Lack of strong historical relationship
Some of the difficulties in the Russian market include the lack of available credit for many of the importers which could limit the volume an importer can buy, delays at the port which cause arrival delays and can impact the timing of in-store promotions, and lack of familiarity of USA pear shippers / exporters and many of the new importers in Russia. This lack of familiarity or lack of a strong historical relationship has caused many shippers to be cautious in their dealings with Russia. On the plus side, this has helped the market grow at more of a controlled rate, but it has limited the volumes that the US pear industry ship to Russia.
The advantage of Marketing representatives
The Pear Bureau has two marketing representatives, one based in the Russian Far East and one based in Western Russia to handle the implementation of the promotional program and maintain the trade contact throughout the season. This is a distinct advantage because no other pear supplier in Russia is offering the same type of support. USA Pears can typically be one of the more expensive pears in the market, but with the aid of in-store sampling promotions or trade merchandising we can keep the importers confident in handling the pears and help convince consumers to buy USA Pears. The marketing and promotional program also helps establish a strong brand recognition with USA Pears that our industry can take advantage of.
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