Written and Published by BMT Foods, April 22, 2024
Passion fruit is a popular tropical fruit and ingredient used in many different food and beverage products around the world. Rich in nutrients, passion fruit is abundant in vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, and potassium and contains antioxidants that are key to combating a range of health issues. The fiber in passion fruit helps with stomach health. These health benefits alone make it popular, but paired with its delicious and versatile flavor profile, it is a great ingredient in numerous recipes and consistently sought-after.
The country of Peru, in South America, is the largest producer and exporter of passion fruit globally. Historically, Peru produced over 97,000 tons of passion fruit in 2023, 80,200 tons of passion fruit in 2020, and 64,275 tons of passion fruit the prior year in 2019. Peru is followed by Colombia and Ecuador as the second and third-largest exporters, respectively.
What is in store for the 2024 Peruvian passion fruit crop?
This year’s Peruvian passion fruit harvest was estimated to be 35% larger than 2023’s, with 150,000 tons projected. The climate was projected to see lower temperatures and lower risks than the prior few years. But El Niño, a weather phenomenon that warms ocean temperatures, drove higher temperatures in Peru, particularly on the passion fruit-producing coast. As a result, about 20,000 tons of passion fruit were lost early in the season.
What has been seen with the Peruvian passion fruit crop so far this year?
So far this year, we saw prices remain competitive in January and February, while demand was lower than expected due to expectations of an early peak. Lower demand led to producers consolidating passion fruit production on less land for profitability reasons. Inventory was less in March and continues to be lower in April (to-date). Now, with temperatures in Peru beginning to drop as El Niño stabilizes and recedes, production has ramped up, and buyers can anticipate a May or June harvest, with a second peak likely.
As a result of newer crops being planted, brix is expected to improve and be slightly better than the first peak from January/February. Overall, improvement in brix for this year’s crop is likely to be limited due to the farming practices utilized this year and factors noted above.
Additionally, we project prices to decrease over the next few weeks ahead of the second peak.
It’s a great time to consider passion fruit for your next food or beverage product.
Whether juices, sauces, dressings, or something else, passion fruit is a great fit for a variety of recipes and products. BMT Foods supplies Peruvian passion fruit NFC and Concentrate, in both conventional and organic, with frozen and aseptic configurations available, too. Peruvian passion fruit has a yellow color, but if you are looking for something with a darker color, we also offer passion fruit juice concentrate from Vietnam, which has a purple color. We stand ready to meet your passion fruit product needs, whichever variety you prefer. Please contact us today to learn more.
