Prices for papaya are high across the global market, but there are different reasons for this in different locations. For many, the increase in price is due to the rising cost of air freight, which many importers of the exotic fruit rely upon. This is the case in the Netherlands, Germany, France and North America. South Africa has recorded higher than usual prices due to a lack of volume caused by a number of issues related to weather conditions during the growing season, an issue noted by other markets is there appears to be a lack of good quality, well-coloured fruit. Despite these high prices, there are no reports of a decline in demand for papaya, and most markets even note a continued rise in purchasing of the fruit. Both Mexico and Australia appear to be capitalising on this, and are currently focused on improving the quality and safe production of the fruit through investments in research.
