Exporting Rainbows
Hawaii papayas
Rainbow papayas, that is. Hawaii produces some wonderful papayas and my wife and I consume at least one or two each week. Good healthy product, so you wouldn’t think there would be much trouble exporting them. You would be wrong.
The Honolulu Advertiser reports that Hawaii’s papaya exports have plummeted. Hawaii really has only four export markets for papaya, if you don’t count the U.S. mainland: Japan, China, Canada and Hong Kong. The sales drops in Canada and Hong Kong were likely simply the impact of the recession. Our Chinese market is growing nicely. Japan has been the problem. Here are the numbers:
Source: Foreign Trade Zone #9, Honolulu, Hawaii (click for larger version)
So what’s the story with Japan? It is an old and sad tale that begins with something called ring spot virus, a scourge of the papaya industry. Papaya producers everywhere have fought this virus forever, it seems, and have tried all sorts of sprays, steam treatments and even irradiation. The first two do unattractive things to the fruit, and irradiation raises “Frankenfruit” fears in consumers. So the creative folks at the University of Hawaii decided to develop a genetically-modified papaya resistant to ring spot virus. Thus was born the genetically-modified Rainbow papaya. Tastes great, looks great, no virus. We eat ‘em all the time. The Advertiser article says that 75% of Hawaii’s production has shifted to the new Rainbow.
Japan wouldn’t let the modified Rainbows in because of regulations against genetically-modified organisms. Hawaii’s non-GMO papayas are sought after by Japanese consumers, though they are looking for perfect fruit with no ring spot blemishes. They garner up to $10 per fruit in Tokyo if perfect, but the risk of ring spot virus destroying a crop’s value has driven most growers to the GMO Rainbow.
The story has a happy ending. Though the Advertiser wasn’t aware of it at the time they ran their article (April 25), it was announced just days before that Japan has decided to let the Rainbows in. I haven’t seen the details yet, but I expect that boxes of Rainbows will soon be flying across the Pacific. That doesn’t end the problems, as GMO foods must be clearly labeled as such in Japan and it may prove very tough to convince Japanese consumers to try a GMO product.
Creative labeling may prove the key to the Japanese market. Since the Rainbow avoids considerable chemical spraying, one could argue that it is more beneficial to the environment than non-GMO papayas. Perhaps they could be marketed as “Reduced Environmental Impact” (REI) papayas. (See my post on a study that showed greater consumer acceptance for otherwise identical REI fruits than for GMO fruits.)
