Supplies of white-fleshed dragon fruit have increased as the season gets underway in Ecuador. “This year, it’s a little earlier but not by much and there are definitely increased supplies compared to last year,” says Alan Goldberg of A&B Tropical Produce. “There’s been just a general increase in dragon fruit volume and that’s continued. Volume started to go up two weeks ago and it will just continue to go up.”
The season from Ecuador has almost moved into a year-round deal. “Growers are using lights to stimulate growth so there are now very few gaps in production,” he says.
Ecuador is also shipping increasing volumes of fruit while the domestic Florida season is also still going. That season starts in June and usually runs through sometime in October. This year, Goldberg says the state had a good year for the production of dragon fruit.
Supply and demand
What about demand? “Supply is overwhelming demand and driving prices down,” he says. “We had a similar situation earlier this year where there was an overabundance of supply back in February and March. While I don’t see that kind of volume happening over the next month or two, prices are definitely on the downswing compared to where they’ve been for the past two or three months,” says Goldberg.
General consumption of dragon fruit is still on the upswing as consumers continue to become educated on the health benefits and how to eat the fruit. “At the same time, supplies are increasing. Maybe at some point, there’s a little more supply than demand. It’s been fairly manageable for the past six months so we’ll see how this latest increase affects things,” he says, adding that he thinks pricing will continue to go down until it stabilizes.
For more information:
Alan Goldberg
A&B Tropical Produce
+1 (305) 805-1530
[email protected]
www.abtropical.com
