Dragon fruit, turmeric, jackfruit among specialty standouts
Specialty produce items heating up lately include Asian vegetables and tropical items, marketers say.
“What is interesting about the specialty category is the crossover between the products and which category they fall into,” said Alex Jackson Berkley, assistant sales manager for Los Alamitos, Calif.-based Frieda’s.
“Many fruit items that are popular in the Asian culture are also common in the Latin culture, like dragon fruit, lychee, rambutan, jackfruit and mangosteen.
“The Asian vegetable category has taken off as many people are becoming more familiar with the items through Asian restaurants,” Jackson Berkley said.
“Retailers are looking to compete with the big Asian retailers by bringing in a variety of Asian items at a low retail price. This is going beyond bok choy and napa cabbage. Items like bittermelon, Chinese okra, gai lan and Chinese long beans are more common in the retail (setting).”
Robert Schueller, director of public relations for Los Angeles-based World Variety Produce, which markets under the Melissa’s brand, noted turmeric, petite baby bok choy and petite Shanghai bok choy are among Asian items drawing increasing interest, while jackfruit continues on an upward trajectory despite its massive size.
“The trendiest fruit of them all in the category of tropicals is definitely the jackfruit,” Schueller said. “It has so much potential.”
“The only problem with the jackfruit and why not every retailer is carrying it is because it’s the largest of all fruit,” Schueller said. “These fruits are typically at least 12 pounds, but average they are around 20 pounds.”
When the retail price is $2-3 per pound, jackfruit quickly becomes quite pricey.
“It’s a value when it’s per pound, but the thing is that retailers don’t want to deal with cutting it up because there’s a whole art to doing that ... It would be considered kind of a tricky fruit to handle,” Schueller said.
Jackson Berkley also noted turmeric and jackfruit as growth items, particularly due to the plant-based eating trend.
Schueller attributed much of the buzz around jackfruit to its use among vegans as a meat substitute.
Both Jackson Berkley and Schueller mentioned dragon fruit has been a hot item as well.
Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Homestead, Fla.-based Brooks Tropicals, described fruits with some natural theatricality as having enjoyed more attention lately.
“Fruit with descriptive names — passion fruit, dragon fruit and star fruit, for example — are taking the stage,” Ostlund said. “These fruit names sound like they’re trying to tell a story but need someone to take the lead.”
Melissa Hartmann de Barros, director of communications for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based HLB Specialties, said papayas and rambutan are best-sellers for the company, with rambutan experiencing the most growth since HLB began offering it three years ago.
“I’ve noticed the topic of ‘mealtime monotony’ come up lately,” Hartmann de Barros said. “I think people are getting bored with their usual choices and want to try new things. If it’s nutritious and tasty, consumers will take risks and try this spiky red fruit (rambutan) or bright yellow cactus plant (yellow pitahaya) and become repeat customers.”
Marc Holbik, vice president of business development for Medley, Fla.-based Ecoripe Tropicals, said rambutan, dragon fruit, durian, longan, lychee, mangosteen and soursop are among the items drawing the most interest for the company.
Ecoripe also has a new value-added organic coconut product that comes with a pop can-style opening system.
“We are very excited about the future growth of this item,” Holbik said. “We have also seen impressive growth in dragon fruit, especially the sweet yellow-skin variety from Ecuador, often called pitahaya.
“The combination of an increase of health consciousness, together with the increased exposure and access the internet provides, has allowed our tropical specialty fruit to satisfy and even generate more consumer demand,” Holbik said. “The amazing shapes and colors of our tropical specialties bring attention to the produce department.”
