Crunch Pak, the country's largest fresh apple slicer, is still figuring out how best to slice pears.Fresh sliced apples have been a boon for Washington producers, providing them with an important market for small fruit. But, so far, pear growers can only look on enviously. Fresh sliced apples is a $475-million industry nationally, and Crunch Pak, basedin Cashmere, Washington, is the largest producer. Tony Freytag, seniorvice president of sales and marketing, said pears were the first item the company tried slicing when it was founded 12 years ago, but has never been able to make it work well enough. At least, not yet.
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