Effective October 23rd of this year, the US market has opened up for pitayas from Israel. “We are excited to bring them in as no irradiation treatment is required,” says Gary Tozzo with MOR USA. “Treatments negatively affect the taste and as a result, the taste of the Israeli pitaya is far superior to that of other pitaya growing nations that are required to apply treatment when exporting to the US.”
Desert King winter variety
MOR USA is offering a year-round pitaya program. “This time of the year, we import the Desert King variety. It is a smaller size fruit that is available during the winter season only, roughly from December through February,” explained Tozzo. Availability is limited as Israel is the only country that grows the Desert King variety. “They’ve been growing it for about three to four years and in the past, all fruit was shipped to Europe.” In spring, the focus shifts to a larger size summer variety with more abundant supplies.
Twin package of Desert King pitayas for the UK market
Expensive fruit variety
“Our distribution is mainly targeted at food retail stores,” mentioned Tozzo. Oriental stores as well as high-end grocery stores are the main channels. Available quantities are too limited to focus on food service. Tozzo expects consumer education such as store demos to play an important role in getting the consumer to fall for pitayas. “The Desert King variety is very sweet and has the potential of being eaten as a fruit whereas many traditional varieties are used as garnish.” For more information:
Gary Tozzo
MOR USA
Tel: (+1) 610-268-2260