In 2014 the red blushed pear was introduced under the brand name QTee. This year around 500 tonnes will be harvested in Belgium. Kris Wouters of Fruithandel Wouters indicates that the production will increase slowly over the next few years. "We want to test what the demand is like in various countries first and then decide how much more we will plant." He recently visited South Africa, where QTee trees are also planted. The Belgian QTee are available from August until the end of December. "The first from South Africa will come from January 2017."
Cultivation in South Africa
"The trees in South Africa have a different rootstock from those in Belgium. In Belgium it takes two years after planting for there to be a harvest because we work with quince rootstocks. In South Africa they have to wait four years for the first production because seedling are still used there due to the warmer climate." The area in South Africa is 75 hectares at the moment and another 75 is soon to be added. "We expect there to be a minimum of 300 hectares there within ten years. The South Africans are hugely enthusiastic. We are still quite careful with planting more but they know there is demand for this pear. Of course we also have faith in the QTee, but we have to get to know the markets first and see the responses. It's also a club variety and you have to stay exclusive with those. We won't extend until we are sure of demand. Then possibly with cultivation in the Netherlands." The area in Belgium is now around 100 hectares with 200,000 trees. Next year another 50,000 trees will be added.
Red blushed
According to Kris people in South Africa are mainly enthusiastic because the QTee can be harvest around eight weeks before the Forelle. "This means they can serve the market earlier with a red blushed pear. There is another red blushed pear there, the Rosemarie, but it is less blushed than QTee. The interest there in a well coloured pear is huge." Fruithandel Wouters collaborated with Fruit Services Europa in Europe and with Stargrow in South Africa.
