Oct 2, 2018

USA Pears releases ‘Hand-Picked’ videos

The 2018 harvest of Northwest grown pears, hand-picked and hand-packed with care by Pacific Northwest growers, is estimated to yield more than 20 million standard boxes (average 44 pounds per box) of pears from Washington’s Wenatchee and Yakima districts and Oregon’s Mid-Columbia and Medford districts. This year’s crop is also abundant in clean, beautiful fruit, which is due in large part to the hard work of the pear growers and their staff.

As part of Pear Bureau Northwest’s continued efforts to create new and exciting pear content, the organization is releasing a series of videos that capture the people and places that make the Northwest pear industry so unique. Leading with the Hand-Picked short documentary, the videos offer an authentic and human look at topics such as the importance of family and community, growing conditions, labor, industry progress, organics, and what makes the perfect pear. For the most part, these videos will be used on USAPears.org and on social media and in digital ads, as well as shared with retailers.

“Consumers are becoming more interested in learning where their food comes from and the stories behind it. We wanted to take consumers into the orchards and give them a fresh and honest look at the people who put in so much effort to grow pears,” said Kathy Stephenson, Marketing Communications Director of Pear Bureau Northwest. “We are extremely proud to offer a collection of videos that beautifully capture the hard work, dedication and passion that goes into getting sweet and juicy Northwest pears from the tree to the table.”

Pear Bureau Communications Specialist Neil Ferguson, who wrote and produced the Hand-Picked videos in-house, is excited to take consumers behind the scenes of the pear industry. “What’s fascinating about the Northwest pear industry is how much it still comes down to people, whether that be the nearly 900 family growers or the employees who work hard in the orchard and the packing facilities to get the best quality fruit to consumers. The story of those individuals and their communities is an important part of American agriculture.”

As video continues to grow as the dominant form of media in the digital landscape, Pear Bureau Northwest is investing resources into developing content that is fresh, engaging and forward-thinking. In addition to the Hand-Picked videos, the organization recently unveiled a series of videos featuring a celebrity spokesperson, the actress Amy Smart, and will soon be sharing new recipe videos. They will also be doing Facebook Live broadcasts on the @USAPears page throughout the season.

The videos are available to watch here. If you would like a download of any video please email Neil Ferguson: [email protected].

Be sure to follow along with USA Pears throughout the year to see and learn more about pears.

Pear Bureau Northwest is a non-profit marketing organization established in 1931 to promote the fresh pears grown in Washington and Oregon, home to 88% of the U.S. commercial fresh pear crop. The Bureau represents close to 900 grower families and partners with outlets throughout the world in an effort to increase overall success with the pear category. The organization provides marketing and merchandising expertise that is customized specifically for each retail organization, using its pear consumer research findings as well as individual store analysis using an in-house data system that measures pear category performance nationwide and third-party research to show retailers how they perform versus their competition. Retailers who are interested in partnering with Pear Bureau Northwest should contact them at [email protected] or 1 (800) 547-4610, as well as visit the Trade.USAPears.org website.