MILWAUKIE, OREGON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a $4.025 million grant under the Regional Agriculture Promotion Program to build demand for American pears in global markets with a high potential according to a Pear Bureau Northwest press release.

“We are extremely pleased with the generous allocation that the Pear Bureau received from the USDA’s new RAPP program,” said Kevin Moffitt, PBNW President and CEO. “The export team did a fantastic job on their grant application, and the funds will bolster our export programs which are so important to the fresh pear growers in Washington and Oregon.”

The grant will help pear growers across the Pacific Northwest identify and sell in new locations globally. The Pear Bureau will utilize the funds to venture into new markets such as the Philippines and the Caribbean and look at re-entry into markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The funding from the RAPP program will help identify and leverage global markets that will help pear growers throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana get their fruit to potentially profitable markets through improved marketing and outreach. 

“We will look to conduct some important global activities to improve our social media outreach, develop more video and photo content that can be used by all stakeholders in all markets, and look to fund the promotional activities in the eligible export markets under the RAPP program for the next 2-5 seasons,” said Jeff Correa, the Pear Bureau’s director of international marketing. 

Pear Bureau officials said they appreciated the support of the USDA executive team.

“We’re also grateful to USDA Secretary Vilsack and the Foreign Agricultural Service leadership of FAS Administrator Daniel Whitley, Deputy Administrator Mark Slupek, Senior Director Curt Alt and Senior Director Chris Jacquette for their tireless work to move this grant from a concept to actuality,” Correa said.