Miami, Florida-based Freshway, a major packer, importer, and distributor of exotic fruits in the United States and South America, narrowed down its product offerings in 2021, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, going from offering up to 25 products to focusing exclusively on exotic produce.

Jose Roggiero, president and CEO of Freshway, told Freshfruitportal.com that this decision was a strategic one - especially as the exotic fruit market continues to grow exponentially.

"We used to work with cassava, malanga, tropical roots, and then we narrowed it down to a few products, including rambutan, and then just exotic fruits," Roggiero explained. "That was a valuable move on our end, and the right move, because we streamlined all our resources and our efforts to make sure that we support the growth of these commodities."

Freshway now works with products such as dragon fruit, lychee, star fruit, and passion fruit out of Florida. One of the company's key differentiators, Roggiero said, is its ability to handle smaller orders and offer flexible logistics.

"Our logistic range is very wide," he adds. "We work with not only LTL carriers, but also we built our trucks and have different ports of entry around the United States." 

The organization currently works with five to six growers in Florida. Dragon fruit is sourced from South Florida during the summer months, while other exotic fruits, such as passion fruit and star fruit, have a longer production window.

"Products like dragon fruit, lychee, rambutan, guava, have been growing every year consistently in the U.S.," Roggiero emphasized. "particularly dragon fruit, over the past five years, it has grown double digits every every year, the consumption of the fruit, just this year, is projected to growth between 18% to 20% in the United States."

He added that supporting this kind of growth requires significant effort, especially since the exotic fruit market is still in the development phase.

"The biggest issue before has been inconsistency of supply, and that inconsistency was a true problem in the past three or four years," he said. "But, between offshore fruit and also domestic production, we have been able to fill those gaps - and every year has been less drastic."

In 2024, the exotic fruit market size was valued at $20 million, according to Credence Research, and is anticipated to reach $30 million by 2032, with a CAGR of 6.2%. The demand surge is being fueled by rising consumer awareness of the health benefits of exotic fruits, the increase in veganism, and expanding international trade.

While the Asia-Pacific region holds the largest market share, North America has been expanding steadily, largely driven by consumer demand.

Roggiero noted that Asian migration to South Florida has also fueled market growth, as members of the community identified an opportunity to serve both their local and broader U.S. markets.

South Florida may not be the ideal place to grow these fruits due to high humidity and challenging weather conditions, but Roggiero said growers are increasingly using technology to adapt - an effort that’s paying off.

"We've seen that growers who apply more technology to their crops tend to mitigate better with the harsh weather conditions and are able to grow a better, sweeter fruit," he said.

Looking ahead to the upcoming summer season, Roggiero is optimistic about the dragon fruit crop.

"We haven't had any drastic weather situations at the beginning of the year," he said. "We've been visiting some farms, and so far everything looks quite good. Now the rain season is starting in the next few weeks as we approach May and June, and that will help the plant with growth and production. But growers need to stay very diligent and keep an eye on how their crops are developing."