As the Lunar New Year on January 29th gets closer, demand is starting to pick up for certain fruits such as papaya and jackfruit. "Fruit is generally more popular for Lunar New Year and people like to gift it. Usually, Ataulfo mangoes are a very popular item for Lunar New Year but the season isn't meshing well. There's very little supply, if anything, of Ataulfos so instead people are asking for more papaya now," says Kyle DeCoste of Vivid Produce, a wholesaler based in Calgary, Canada, adding that papaya demand has also been strong so far this winter.
With Ataulfos in tight supply, fruit such as papaya and jackfruit are seeing increased demand right now for the Lunar New Year.
For Vivid Produce, both products come from Mexico–Nayarit for jackfruit and Colima for papaya. "We have also been developing Thai Jackfruit varieties with our growers that have become quite popular with consumers," says DeCoste, adding that this fruit has a thinner skin, with dark orange flesh and a sweeter taste than other varieties.
Meanwhile, the volume on jackfruit is also starting to increase, as it does generally at this time of year, which also makes it a popular Lunar New Year item. "Between September and now there's not a lot of production and prices are really high but now the price has come down with good volume coming on," says DeCoste. Pricing had been around $1.20 CDN/lb. over the winter and now it might sit at around .80 cents CDN/lb.
Steady papaya pricing
Papaya pricing has remained relatively steady, though it has increased slightly for Lunar New Year.
The volume on jackfruit is also starting to increase.
Looking ahead, DeCoste anticipates demand increasing for both products leading up to Lunar New Year. "Even now, the two weeks leading up to it are in very good steady demand. It's not like Christmas demand where it's one final day and maybe a few days ahead of Christmas. Lunar New Year is spread out a bit more in the weeks leading up to it and until about February 3," he says.
For more information:
Kyle DeCoste
Vivid Produce
Tel: +1 (403) 680-5316
[email protected]
https://vividproduce.com/