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You already know the joy of biting into a sweet and juicy Royal Riviera® Pear — but have you ever stopped to consider the journey these precious fruits take before they make it to your door?
The trees that bear our most famous pears are called Comice, found only in France until they were brought to Southern Oregon in the 1870s. There are few places in the world where these trees and their pears can thrive, and our humble Rogue Valley is one of them.
READ MORE: Angers, France: The True Birthplace of the Royal Riviera® Pear
“As far as growing them, they’re a little bit tough,” admits Matt Borman, vice president of the orchards at Harry & David. “A lot of other pears and tree fruits have been bred over the years to be easier to handle, easier to harvest, easier to store. But we committed to Royal Riviera® Pears knowing the flavor and quality were worth the extra care it would take to grow them.”
Brothers Harry and David Holmes recognized how rare and special these pears were, and in 1934, they made it their mission to share them with the world. Ninety years later, we’re proud to continue their legacy.
Our orchards are cared for year-round by a team of experts who know exactly what these persnickety pears need to thrive. As soon as one growing cycle finishes with harvest in the fall, another one begins with pruning in the winter to create light and space for future fruit. Once the pear blossoms open in the spring, more than a thousand hives of bees are brought in to encourage pollination. Then, as the trees leaf out, the focus turns to nutrition, irrigation, and pest control.
Closing in on harvest again, the pears get measured regularly to track their maturity. As soon as the orchard teams see what they’re looking for, it’s go-time.
“We want to make sure we’re picking them when they’re ready but not ripe,” says Borman. “The ripening part actually takes place afterward in people’s homes.”
The pears are hand-picked over the course of four weeks. They’re gently placed into bins and loaded onto trucks to be delivered to the packing house and into cold storage for a month to allow the sugars to fully develop. Out of storage, the pears are washed, optically scanned for defects, weighed, and sorted by size. From there, they travel on packing lines where individuals lift them from padded bins, gently place them by hand in gift boxes, and — always — wrap a single pear in gold foil. This may seem like a lot, but this is the care we take to bring the very finest fruit to you.
READ MORE: The Reason Our Pears Are Wrapped in Gold
The very last steps of the journey take the pears to the shipping dock for labeling, loading, and delivery to your home, where they will fully ripen at room temperature. You can tell they’re ready when the skin on the neck yields to gentle pressure.
Your enjoyment of these incredible pears is the grand finale in a year of dedication to growing them.
Keep reading about our famous pears
