Stone Fruits: Making a come-back as a delicious snack

Stone fruit is a synonym for drupe – a tree fruit with a stony endocarp such as cherry, apricot, plum, damson, peach and nectarine. They are all closely related and share the prunus genus. There is also a plethora of hybrids and varietals including aprium (apricot crossed with plum with apricot dominating) and pluots (plum & apricot cross with plum dominating). All stone fruits are in fact hybrids of the bitter almond tree and all have been developed by horticulturists for hundreds of years to withstand certain climate conditions and soils. Stone fruits have declined in popularity in recent years largely because of inconsistency of taste, texture and juiciness. The quality is often difficult to establish from the visual appearance of the fruit. Thanks to NatureSeal, processors can now offer pre-cut stone fruits that not only retain their visual appeal but taste even better than consumer’s expectations. Moreover, NatureSeal’s latest developments can even assist with frozen fruits that will maintain their natural qualities for a longer period of time. The positive impact on supermarket sales and increased repeat business confirms that consumers are returning to the stone fruit market and are falling in love with stone fruits all over again! SourceFresh Bites Spring 2013