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mainstream as consumers look to diver- sify what they eat, so they can eat more fruits and veggies,” says Ostlund. She sees papayas joining the ranks of green-skinned avocados in the mainstream category. “Not far behind is starfruit, passion fruit and coconut. rambutan and lychee fall into the rampant devotee column. To make your produce aisle the shopping choice for these devotees, you’ve got to carry rambutan and lychee when they’re in their short season.“
For Schueller at Melissa’s, the most dramatic growth in the tropical category is the dragon fruit, with jackfruit also seeing signi cant growth. “We’ve been carrying jackfruit for more than 20 years,” says Scheuller, “but it wasn’t until about ve years ago that vegans and vegetarians started using the fruit as a meat substitute for pulled pork.“
Marc Goldman, produce director, Morton Williams Supermarket, in the Bronx, NY, also sees ethnic items going more mainstream. “For Hispanic people, the yucca and the plantains are becoming much more mainstream. We would have never sold that years ago.” He also has seen a slight uptick in demand for lychee and jackfruit, noting that some of the managers at store level are hesitant to stock these items. Concerns about availability also weigh on decisions of what to promote and carry.
“We don’t have a warehouse. So I’m buying out of the market and from di erent suppliers. If I can get a good price on some- thing like jackfruit, I’ll put it in the ad, but unless I have something where I know the availability in two weeks, it’s very hard to do something like that.” pb
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