Florida dragon fruit suppliers have reacted positively to Ecuador being granted access to the U.S., while a shipper in the Andean country is hopeful the new destination will help avoid saturation in other markets.

In an announcement this week, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection (APHIS) said the rule would become effective as of July 20, 2017. 

Imports of dragon fruit - also known as pitahaya - will be allowed under a systems approach, which includes requirements for fruit fly trapping, pre-harvest inspections, and indicates that only fruit from approved production sites may enter the U.S.

In comments sent to Fresh Fruit Portal, a representative of Florida-based Brooks Tropicals was upbeat about the news even though the company currently only sells locally-grown dragon fruit.

"This development shows the growing US interest in exotic fruits, something we as growers of tropical produce see as further validation of our vision," director of sales Peter Leifermann said.

"We do not currently plan to import Ecuadorian Dragon fruit – although we do not like to use the word “never”. The phytosanitary requirements as written for the Ecuadorian grower are strict - and rightfully so - and we’re interested to see how their industry develops.

"As I understand it, they grow mostly yellow/green varieties that could offer greater selection to the U.S. marketplace."

Brooks Tropicals works with a collection of dragon fruit growers in South Florida.

Meanwhile, J&C Tropicals is gearing up to add Ecuador to its list of dragon fruit-sourcing regions.

"We believe this is a positive development for the Dragon Fruit category in the U.S.," executive vice president Jessie Capote said.

"We're big fans of dragon fruit at J&C and the introduction of the yellow variety from Ecuador will be a good thing for the consumer."

The company markets fruit grow locally in Florida and imported fruit Vietnam, but Capote mentioned that it would not import from Ecuador at times when it could clash with local production.

"We plan on importing Dragon Fruit from Ecuador when our crop in Florida is not in season," she said, adding the tropical fruit is typically harvested in the Sunshine State from June through October.

U.S. growers will have 'no issues selling'

When the import proposal was announced, Florida-based Pandora Farms president Jourdan Gray was optimistic about the opportunities, as currently options are mostly limited to importing fresh, irradiated pitahaya from Thailand or Vietnam for three-quarters of the year.

“By allowing this product into the US there will be a nice economic opportunity for American businesses and consumers to get something much healthier,” Gray said as comments on the proposed rule. 

“In addition, most of the pitahaya is a yellow type which is a totally different market from the Red one normally seen in the US.

“US based growers will still have no issues selling their product because many stores prefer buying from the US and there is not enough fruit even from those growers to fill the whole market. Hence the offshore imports from Nicaragua over the last few years. The quality is not good but the market demands it."

But not all reactions were positive, with Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services plant industry division (FDACS-DPI) director Trevor Smith raising concerns about the possible introduction of the South American fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus).

“The PRA (pest risk analysis) rated the fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus as High for likelihood of introduction. An introduction of A. fraterculus would result in major eradication efforts severely impacting Florida’s $8.25 billion dollar agricultural industry,” he commented on the proposed rule last year.

“Additionally, fruit infested with internal A. fraterculus larvae are highly likely to escape detection during culling. At this time, FDACS-DPI recommends shipments of pitahaya from Ecuador not be allowed into Florida.”

A market closer to home for Ecuador

Giving a perspective from the South American country itself, a representative of Organpit, a grower-exporter of fresh and dried dragon fruit, said the market access would greatly help the industry to diversify markets and avoid price declines due to saturation.

Export manager Bayron Ortíz explained the U.S. also offered a logistical advantage as it was far closer than many of Ecuador's other markets like Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

"With the U.S. we believe that the cost of airfreight will be between US$1.75 and US$2.15 maximum per kilogram for the gross weight, and there is therefore a good chance our product will be competitive," he said.

Ortiz added the company already had some contacts established in the U.S. thanks to participation in trade events.

"There are supermarket chains that are already interested and they were just waiting for the market opening," he said.

"At Organpit we have a capacity of 900,000 metric tons (MT) per year and we are still not exporting even 20% of what we produce, but what we do sell internationally mainly goes to Peru and Colombia."

A representative of trade promotion group ProEcuador did not expect exports to begin before August as APHIS representatives still needed to certify facilities in Ecuador.

But she said exporters had "many expectations" for the new market.

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