“Taiwan is currently consistently shipping a couple of containers per week of cold-treated product and Mexico is crossing a lesser amount of their irradiated product,” says Peter M. Leifermann with Brooks Tropicals in Homestead, Fl. Leifermann adds that the Florida season runs between August and February.
Supply of the fruit, also known as Carambola, is largely impacted by weather events both domestically and overseas. “Hurricane Irma knocked us out just as we were starting the 2017 peak, and the unpredictability of Mother Nature is our biggest challenge,” says Leifermann. “Taiwan also faces tropical storm or typhoon threats.”
Double-sided demand
At the same time, the fruit seems to be seeing a bit of a pickup in demand on both the retail and the consumer side. “As more and more school-aged children are trying Starfruit bought in grocery stores and through their own schools’ healthy-eating initiatives, consumption will increase generationally,” says Leifermann. “And while the regularity of retail promotional volume helps continue to develop demand for Starfruit, increased demand in the foodservice sector—especially institutional—has also been a bright spot.” He also adds that Starfruit is also benefitting from the general use of social media to promote healthy ways to eat fruit.
Pricing meanwhile on the fruit remains relatively consistent, with promotional pricing generally pushed during the two seasonal peaks of Starfruit.
For more information:
Peter Leifermann
Brooks Tropicals, LLC.
Tel: +1-877-775-3752
[email protected]
www.brookstropicals.com
