Why pear prices are falling: It's not about oversupply, it's about hoarding

Pears are displayed at a large supermarket in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Pear prices have plummeted, with the wholesale price of 15 kilograms of 2024-harvested pears averaging 31,597 won ($23) last month, more than 80 percent lower than the average of 169,763 won a year earlier, according to a Korea Rural Economic Institute report released Monday.

Retail prices have also dropped to less than half of last year’s levels. Data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. showed that the retail price for 10 pears was 36,026 won as of Friday, a 52.6 percent decrease from 76,077 won the previous year.

This falling price is not solely due to oversupply. The pears currently available in the market are from the 2024 harvest, and production that year was significantly low. Moreover, the new season’s pears have yet to be widely distributed.

According to data from Statistics Korea, pear production in 2024 amounted to 178,000 tons, the smallest volume in four years since 133,000 tons in 2020.

The real reason for the price crash lies in the attempt of pear farmers to repeat the strategy they used after the poor harvest in 2023 — storing pears to sell later at higher prices.

In 2023, pear production reached 184,000 tons, down 26.8 percent from the previous year. Although the cultivation area, including fruit-bearing trees, decreased by only 2.4 percent, the main problem was a 25 percent decline in yield.

This drop was caused by severe spring frost damage combined with significant sunburn damage, where intense sunlight caused the fruit to dry out and decay.

Despite the poor harvest that left many farmers in distress, some managed to earn substantial profits. Instead of selling their pears immediately after harvest, these farmers stored their crops and sold them just before the new season’s pears hit the market, capitalizing on rising prices.

According to pear producer organizations, pears that typically sold for about 50,000 won per 15 kilograms were sold for between 150,000 and 200,000 won at that time, enabling those farmers to earn three to four times the expected income.

In fact, the average retail price for 10 pears in July last year reached 79,559 won, almost triple the 28,531 won recorded in the same month of the previous year.

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This year, some pear farmers again withheld their harvest from the market, stacking their pears in cold storage and following the same strategy, fueled by hopes of earning higher profits by waiting a little longer.

However, this year’s situation differed from last year’s.

Although retail prices for pears remained above average in the first half of the year, wholesale prices, which directly impact farmers’ earnings, began falling below the previous year’s levels starting in February.

In May, the wholesale price for 15 kilograms of pears dropped to 50,754 won, below the average price of 56,840 won.

As prices continued to decline, farmers faced mounting pressure to sell their stock but struggled to find buyers, which accelerated the price drop further.

Pears have a limited consumer base. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs show that per capita pear consumption was 3.1 kilograms in 2023, less than half the 7.7 kilograms for apples and also lower than the 3.6 kilograms for peaches and 4.4 kilograms for grapes.

Market watchers also note that last year’s steep price hikes further discouraged consumers.

With demand continuing to weaken, large volumes of stock are still in storage, prompting forecasts that prices for this year’s crop are unlikely to see any significant rebound.

Amid plunging prices, farmers who had stored last year’s harvest expecting substantial profits were thrown into panic, with some lodging complaints to the government, calling on it to “take responsibility for pear prices.”

Public reaction has been largely unsympathetic.

On an online community, one user wrote, “Excessive greed has backfired,” while another commented, “If there are farmers manipulating the distribution market to inflate fruit prices, consumers should just stop buying expensive fruit. Then prices will naturally fall.”