The mangosteen returns

(FSB magazine) -- When the U.S. dropped its ban on imports of mangosteen, Americans who had savored the "queen of fruit" abroad rejoiced. So did Ian Crown, the owner of Panoramic Fruit (panoramic fruit.com).

Ending the ban, which was aimed at keeping out the Asian fruit fly, allows Thailand's mangosteen growers to crack the U.S. market, but only if they irradiate their fruit. Because Panoramic is based in Puerto Rico, where Crown has spent more than a decade developing his 1,000-tree mangosteen grove, it has always been able to ship to the continental U.S., but has done so only in limited amounts.

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With big Thai exporters seeding demand, Crown is now gearing up to sell his fresher-and he says tastier-crop in quantity. Panoramic has distribution deals with Baldor Specialty Foods (baldorfood.com) in the East and Melissa's World Variety Produce (melissas.com) in Los Angeles.