About

Cold Snap™ is Canada’s newest pear variety and is proudly grown by Canadian farmers. Crisp, juicy, and flavourful, Cold Snap™ pears are exclusively grown and distributed in Canada, making them a tasty alternative to imported fruit. With a higher resistance to disease and a longer storage life than other varieties, you can enjoy this pear throughout Canada’s long winter months!

History and Research

The Cold Snap™ pear, derived from the traditional Bartlett pear, was initially developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research station in Harrow, Ontario. In 2009, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada licensed the global rights for the variety – then called “Harovin Sundown” – to Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, a not-for-profit Canadian organization located in Ontario's Niagara Region dedicated to horticultural science and innovation.   

Vineland Research and Innovation Centre entered into a commercial license agreement with the Vineland Growers Co-operative in 2011, providing the grower co-operative with exclusive Canadian rights to produce and sell the variety. Since then the two organizations have been working collaboratively and have successfully launched the first developed-in-Canada, produced-in-Canada, and branded-in-Canada pear.

75,000 trees have now been planted by family farm operations in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and these orchards will supply pears to Canadians across the country. Controlled atmosphere storage gives Cold Snap™ an extended shelf life, and keeps them fresh throughout the winter season.

Plantings of the pear have also begun in Europe and the United States to supply fruit to those markets as well, making Cold Snap™ a Canadian variety that will be marketed to the world.