08/16/05 Competing against itself?

Northwest pears have found a nice schedule in the calendars of many retailers, with each variety being highlighted at a specific time. But the competition this year will not be Northwest pears versus pears from other states or other countries. In many store shelves, it will be Northwest pear versus Northwest pear. Dennis James of Pear Bureau Northwest, aren't retailers going against conventional wisdom with this strategy? JAMES: What their belief was was that there would be cannibalization if you moved from the Bartletts to an Anjou-Bartlett kind of scenario, but what they're really finding is there is a distinct customer base out there that likes buying the Bartletts and they do. And there's that group that likes the Anjou better and they buy that, so they get additional lift out of that. The thanks for the coinciding of Northwest pear varieties on store shelves goes to a projected increase in both Green and Red Bartletts as well as a need for stores to fill shelf space with California's pear crop on an earlier schedule. JAMES: The Bartlett crop is really going to be a really smooth mover this year. Actually, we have retailers that want to carry the Bartletts into January, so we look at it as we'll be coming in earlier than we did in prior years because of California being off, but also because the retailers out there are interested in coming on board early with a solid Bartlett and Anjou program.