“Thai guava and red guava come and go in waves,” explained Rena Mashav of Caribbean Gold. “Right now, we're short on Thai guava, so prices went up.” Because the supply ebb and flow of each variety is not always synchronized, situations often arise where there are ample supplies of one variety and less of the other. This is such a case, where there is enough red guava but little Thai guava available. In these instances, Caribbean Gold has worked out arrangements with retailers where it can substitute one variety for the other while the short variety becomes more plentiful. But, as it stands, prices are currently on the higher end. On June 4, prices for a 20-pound carton of Thai guava were above $50.00 at Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago terminals.
“We have big production of red flesh guava and low production of Thai guava,” said Mashav. “But in about three weeks, we'll have a lot more of both.”
Education, Regulation Challenges
Guava, like other tropical fruit, has gained in popularity as people learn more about the item. Mashav sees this education component as a key to growing the item across the United States. As more research is done on fruits and vegetables, tropicals included, there's more evidence about the health benefits of fresh produce. So it's just a question of making people aware of guavas.
“We sold a lot of guava two months ago, and the market didn't go down very much this year,” said Mashav. “But all tropicals need more education to the consumer, so they learn about it and learn how to eat it.” Regulations have also become a roadblock for Caribbean Gold. While Mashav used to send her fruit to Texas, regulations requiring treatment of guava entering the state made it cost-prohibitive to continue sending the fruit there.
“I wish we could send fruit to Texas without the strict regulations,” said Mashav. “If we can grow it and sell it in Florida, why can't we sell it like it is over there?”
