Goldens scarce
“As the largest importer of Golden papayas in the United States, we're down to 70 percent of what we normally get for Golden papayas,” said Andres Ocampo with HLB Specialties. “Some parts of Brazil are in the middle of a strong drought, and that drought is acute in areas where papayas are grown for export to the Unites States. So the situation here is critical in terms of availability.” As a result, prices have been high. On May 17, prices for Golden papayas from Brazil were between $12.00 and $13.00 for a 3.5 kilogram container of 9s at South Florida ports of entry.
“Imports are very low at the moment, and that's been the case for the last month,” said Ocampo. “This is expected to last through July, so maybe we'll rebound for the third quarter.”
Guatemalan production increases
Volumes of Tainung papayas, on the other hand, are steady, and prices have reflected that. On May 17, prices for a 35-pound carton of Tainung 8s from Guatemala were between $20.00 and $21.00 at South Florida ports of entry. Most shipments of Tainungs come from Guatemala and a few from Belize, and that's consistent with production trends from the last several years.
“Until two or three years ago, Belize was the largest grower of Tainungs for the U.S. market, but production has gone down significantly since then,” explained Ocampo. “There is not a lot of land available in Belize for papayas because Belize has already been the biggest producer for the last 20 or 30 years. They ran out of land, and then labor costs are higher than in neighboring countries.” But with Belize growing less fruit, Guatemala has picked up that slack, and now Guatemala is the largest Central American shipper of the fruit.
As with Tainungs, Maradol papaya volumes remain steady. Mexican growers are ramping up production, which tends to spike in the summer months – which, incidentally, is also when demand decreases in the northern hemisphere due to competition from summer fruit.
Competition from summer fruit
“Some retailers don't like to promote papayas during the summer because they know papayas are around all year long,” said Ocampo. “They keep carrying papayas, but they might choose to promote local and seasonal fruit, so it's a challenge to find space on the shelves for papayas in the summer.”
Despite the summer dip, Ocampo noted that consumption has been gaining, even among mainstream consumers, over the last decade. However, immigrant families from Latin America, who are already familiar with papayas, still drive a large portion of consumption.
“The category has been growing for the past 10 years,” said Ocampo. “Except for a temporary hold on imports from Mexico in 2011, shipments into the U.S. have been increasing all that time.”
