According to Stefan Warbout of Bud Holland, papaya prices are much higher than a year ago. "That's mainly due to the recent high air freight costs. Fortunately, that isn't depressing demand which is the same or even slightly higher."
Golden papaya
Bud imports Golden and Formosa papayas from Brazil and 'cooking' papayas from Thailand. These green, unripened papayas are not eaten as a fruit but are used in Thai salads like Som Tum.
Besides the fruit, papaya foliage is edible too, and Bud has begun including it on pre-order. It tastes quite bitter and can be used as a vegetable. "In Mexico, meat is fried in papaya leaves to tenderize the meat. These leaves are also widely used as, say, medicinal tea."
Papaya leaves
Stefan says papaya sales peak around European holidays. "Such as Christmas, Easter, and Epiphany." The importer used to offer seedless Israeli papaya, but he admits that demand has completely evaporated. "Our customers don't ask for it, and, truthfully, there's not sufficient supply either."
Cooking papaya
"People with Eastern European heritage love buying papaya. Sales are fairly stable with regular buyers who return weekly. That's increased slightly in the last year, but that's also because the pandemic is (temporarily) over," concludes Stefan.
Formosa papaya
For more information:
Stefan Warbout
Bud Holland
67 Transportweg
2676 LM, Maasdijk, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 174 535 352
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bud.nl
