Lemon plums from Chile will add color and excitement to the stonefruit display a little longer this year, as volumes increase and the unique yellow fruit edges into the mainstream. Oppy, which represents the largest slice of the lemon plum crop, will ship them through the second week in March.
“Until recently, industry volumes have been small, so lemon plums have occupied a fairly select niche,” said Evan Myers, executive director, South American imports, for Oppy. “It’s a really nice piece of fruit, and more growers are getting involved. That greater volume gives us the opportunity to offer it farther and wider this season.”
To help introduce lemon plums to consumers who are unfamiliar, Oppy is packing an eye-catching one-pound pouch bag.
Lemon plums, so named for their harvest color, not their flavor, are tear-drop shaped, sweet-tasting and juicy, Myers said. “Their skin blushes to red as they ripen, so there’s no guesswork about when to eat them.”
Oppy is expecting arrivals of lemon plums on both coasts through the first week in March.
