From the Northwest Around the World
Washington’s sweet, juicy pears are a big hit in Mexico. But there is a journey of 3,000 miles between the orchards and the tianguis, in which a team of farmers, packers, and shippers have to work together and race against the clock.
A SINGLE PEAR'S JOURNEY from a central Washington farm to an open-air street market in Mexico City represents the combined efforts of hundreds of retailers, importers, shippers, packers, and — of course — the farmers who grow and pick the fruit here in Washington, the country's number 1 producer of pears.
That might feel like a lot of pressure to put on the shoulders of what is often a small, family-owned operation, but pear growers like Darin Palmer and his team are up to the task.
Palmer, who runs Palmer Orchards in Peshastin, married into the pear-growing business and now represents the fourth generation to run the family farm. Many of the families who work on the farm have been there for four generations as well, and Palmer relies on their knowledge to keep things running smoothly.
"They're out here every year, and they honestly know the orchard better than I do because they've been working it — they've been planting these trees and taking care of them for all these years," he said. "And I think it's more than that. I think that we're a family, to be honest with you."
Palmer said a lot of work goes into growing the perfect pear; for example, the fruits need to be hand-thinned to ensure they have enough room to grow. One afternoon, he strolled through the orchard and pointed to a trio of tiny Bartlett pears growing in a clump, plucking the one in the middle and holding it up.
"When people go to the grocery store, they want to pick up a nice, perfect pear," he said. "You don't want a little one. Once we thin that pear off, the remaining pear gets all the nutrients coming from the tree to grow bigger."
And in central Washington — the top pear-growing area in Washington, and, therefore, in the country — the nutrients that come from the soil are one of the reasons these pear trees are thriving. With a combination of volcanic ash, minerals, and micronutrients, the region's soil helps pear trees thrive. Add to that the Wenatchee Valley's abundant water sources, from a combination of mountain snow runoff and the nearby Wenatchee River, plus the region's ideal pear-growing temperatures, and you have some happy orchards.
"Washington state and, specifically, the Wenatchee Valley is, in my opinion, the best place to grow pears," said Palmer. "The pears really like the hot days that we get here, but then also the cool nights. So right before harvest, as fall is starting to set in, the temperature drops and the sugar content goes up in the pears and creates the juicy pear that everybody loves."
After these Washington pears are grown, harvested, and packed, more than 25% of them are exported worldwide — and the biggest importers are our neighbors in Mexico. In Mexico City's brightly lit Central de Abasto wholesale market, boxes of fruit span as far as the eye can see.
"Our growers work with packers and shippers that have great quality standards," said Monica Morena Arellano, who represents the Pear Bureau Northwest in Mexico City. "And what happens is that these importers here in Mexico buy the fruit from our growers and our shippers, and then they come here."
The pears are shipped by truck from Washington to Mexico, where they are unloaded at wholesale markets like Central de Abasto. These wholesale markets sell them to retail outlets, like grocery stores, or to what they call the traditional sector.
"In Mexico, the traditional sector is extremely important," said Morena Arellano. "Around 60% of the produce moves through the traditional sector. We call them 'tianguis', small street markets that come out once every week."
The positive trade relationship between Mexico and the United States is incredibly important in making all of this possible, said Morena Arellano.
"We are the No. 1 export destination for U.S. produce," she said. "So for us, keeping that relationship between our shippers and growers and the Mexican trade is extremely important and part of what we try to do every day."
And thanks to this partnership, a shopper at a Mexico City tianguis can purchase a juicy, flavorful pear grown on a small family farm in the Wenatchee Valley and bring home a taste of the Pacific Northwest nearly 2,800 miles away.
