Myrciaria Dubia - Constraints To The Expansion of Current Use

Constraints To The Expansion of Current Use

• Price. At FOB prices in Peru soaring to USD 3500 per ton of single-strength juice, Camu camu is 4–5 times more expensive than comparable fruit pulps and even concentrates. The high price of Camu camu is a consequence of the difficult logistics involved in production for off-site consumption. The fruits are locally collected, processed and frozen, then shipped over long distances, and exported via ocean freight. The high price of Camu camu obviously limits demand.
• Competition from natural sources of vitamin C. Concentrates and extracts of rose hips, acerola (a Malpighiaceous fruit) are less expensive per unit of vitamin C, probably because of economies of scale.
• Irregularity of quality and timing of raw material supplies from wild populations. Prices paid to fruit collectors on the Rio Napo in Peru in Jan 2006 soared to $1/kg fresh fruit because of drought-induced low harvests. Local markets are still able to pay such prices for limited quantities, but local processors and exporters have been put out of business, at least until prices relax to make the purchase of raw material affordable again. Exporters insure themselves against irregular raw material supplies by maintaining large stocks of frozen finished produce, but this further adds to cost.
• Food safety legislation in export markets. As a food product Camu camu has probably not been available in the EU prior 1997 and may therefore be subject to the Novel Food Regulation (NFR), which requires very stringent food safety requirements to be met before a product is granted access to the community’s market. The scientific documentation as to the toxicity, nutritional composition and potential allergenic hazards required by NFR is currently not available. The NFR has discouraged investment in export-oriented supply chains and has emerged as a serious constraint to many NUS products (see external links to GFU documentation, Hermann 2004).