This summer is shaping up to be a good one for pears at David J. Elliot & Son, a leading supplier of California pears.

“Our harvest timing looks very similar to last year, plus or minus three days,” Larelle Miller, sales manager at Courtland, CA-based David J. Elliot & Son – Stillwater Orchards told The Produce News. “Overall crop conditions look great. Quality also looks great, and the overall sizing profile is about average.” Harvesting begins in mid-July and runs through October.

The family-owned firm farms more than 1,000 acres of pears, along with more than 100 acres of cherries and some 20 acres of kiwifruit. When it comes to pears, David J. Elliot & Son offers Bartlett, Golden Bosc, Red Pears, Comice, French Butter, Seckel and Taylors Gold. “The Taylors Gold variety is making a comeback within our pear family and we should see commercial production by 2020,” Miller said.

When it comes to pears, the company’s roots run deep. David J. Elliot & Son has been growing and shipping pears since the early 1860s. On the heels of the California Gold Rush, David Osborn came to California in the 1850s, settled on the delta of the Sacramento River and ordered pear trees from France. They arrived in 1860 and Stillwater Orchards was born. The pears were said to be such a delicacy that stern wheel riverboats full of miners would pull up to Stillwater Landing, where the miners would start bidding for pears before the paddles stopped turning. In those days, gold was plentiful and pears were as rare as rubies, often resulting in individual pears being traded for an ounce of gold — over $20.

The name Stillwater Orchards comes from the town in Nova Scotia, Canada, from where the Elliot family emigrated. Today, Richard Elliot and his two sons, Rich and Ryan, represent the fifth and sixth generation of Elliots growing and producing some of the finest quality pears on the Sacramento River Delta.

“The Elliot family takes pride in the product that they produce,” Miller said. “So much so, that they only pack and ship what they grow themselves. This way they have complete control over quality and food safety. Knowing that the latter is a hot button for most retailers and foodservice providers, we go the extra mile to guarantee traceability,” she said, adding, “We offer a beautiful high graphic pouch bag in two-, three-, and four-pound weights.”

The pears are marketed under the Daily, Stillwater, David J. Elliot and Delta brands; organic pears are offered under the Daily Organic label.

“We have organic Bartletts and a few organic Red Pears,” Miller said. “We have additional acreage in transition as well as new planted acreage. Estimated growth of our organic acreage over the next five years is about 700 percent.”

Organic pear yield per tree is not as high as conventionally raised fruit. “The yield actually varies year to year,” Miller said. “Last year’s yield was comparable to some of our conventional orchards, but that was kind of an anomaly. Typical yield is 75 to 85 percent of a conventional crop.”

To maximize sales and profits Miller said it is important that retailers properly handle their pears. “It is not much different than bananas and avocados — conditioning Bartletts is a must. You need displays that have pears ready to eat and pears that will be ready to eat in three to four days. Refrigeration is also important,” she said.

In addition to growing its acreage, David J. Elliot & Son is also growing its sales force. “We have added a new sales support person, Kirstin (Twink) Elliot, the wife of Ryan. Rachel Elliot, Richard’s daughter, who has held that position for the last five years, has decided to take a job in the Bay area to be closer to her fiancé,” Miller said. “We are excited to have Kirstin in the sales office. She graduated from U.C. Davis, where she was a star soccer player. She worked sales for a craft beer distributor out of L.A. and is fluent in Spanish, which should help our export program,” Miller said.