"There has been a scarcity in the passion fruit market in recent weeks. The demand has been good throughout the period but due to problems in the production areas the supply couldn't keep up with the demand. At the moment the market is slowly stabilising and there is once again balance in the demand and supply," says Lieve Michielsen of Special Fruit. As a result of the high demand and low supply the price for passion fruit is high, but comparable to last year.
The peak in consumption is around April, May and the holidays, according to the exotic specialist. "Yet we see the popularity of passion fruit increase each year, like most Asian fruit types. We notice that the consumer increasingly experiments with food, and 'foodies' have increasing influences. Passion fruit is also eaten more frequently at breakfast with yoghurt or in a smoothie. We recommend our customers inspire their customers with recipes to give use a boost. Passion fruit certainly still has a lot of potential," according to Michielsen.
The main production areas for passion fruit are Colombia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Portugal for us. "We see little expansion in area in these production areas, but we do notice that people want to set up more cultivation areas in Southern Europe. The cultivation in Southern Europe remains a challenge, however, as it has a very different climate compared to the other production areas," concludes Lieve.
For more information:
Lieve Michielsen
Special Fruit
Europastraat 36
2321 Meer - Belgium
+32 3 317 06 66
+32 474 64 00 01
lieve.michielsen@specialfruit.be
www.specialfruit.be