Pear Tour

PEAR HARVEST

Acres and acres of pear varieties
Harvest begins with picking every pear by hand.
Bins full of freshly harvested fruit are pulled from the orchard rows and are loaded onto trucks.
Trucks bring the fruit to the receiving stations.
Samples are taken from bins for inspection.
Pressure tests and starch tests are taken and logged by grower number and lot number.

	Pear sorting and sizing (non pre-sized fruit)

Fruit from the receiving station are brought inside and ready for processing. Pears are not presized.
Field bins full of pears run through the automated dumper to begin the process through the packing facilities.
Pears float down the float tanks toward the presort tables.
Pears take a short ride up a conveyor to the presort tables.
Presorting helps remove culls and debris.
Pears travel down towards the dryer.
Pears have been cleaned and dried and are now traveling to be sorted.
Workers sort the pears on the sorting tables, removing defects, and any remaining debris.
Pears now have passed the sorting tables and travel down lanes to the individual sizing lanes.
Sizing keeps the fruit a consistent size. Each lane take fruit down the line and is dropped into the appropriate place for packing.
Pear packing
Pears travel out of the sizing lanes to belts for packing. Here they are being bagged and weighed.
Bagged pears are then packed into fiber cartons.
Pears are also still packed in bulk cartons, with each pear wrapped in tissue.
Here you can see a pear carton almost full.
Here pears are tray packed.
Packed boxes then travel through the system. Carton weight is checked as they pass by.
Pear cartons then pass through the taper. This closes the lid flaps and seals the carton for shipping.
Workers palletize the pears and send them a short distance away for temporary cold storage, CA storage, or immediate loading onto trucks.
Pears are loaded onto trucks for distribution all over the continent and world wide.