Pichuberry being developed for fresh, salad and juice markets

Michael Popescu is certain that the Pichuberry is going to be the United States’ next big thing in fruit.

He’s CEO of the Phoenix, Arizona.-based Pichuberry Company. With parent company MojoTree Farm, he came up with and trademarked the Pichuberry name for the native Peruvian berry that he’s marketing and has big plans for in America. The fruit of the physalis peruviana plant, it goes by various names including the Cape Gooseberry and Inca berry in other parts of the world.

“The berries are actually commercially grown on a large scale in Chile and Colombia,” he said.

Popescu imports the berries he’s selling in the U.S., noting that Peru “kind of missed the boat” in seizing on the value of growing the berries commercially.

Popescu and the company’s registered dietitian Manuel Villacorta say the Pichuberry is a superfruit, with many of the healthy qualities consumers want today.

“You eat them for antioxidants and the health benefits,” said Villacorta, who has also written a book, “Peruvian Power Foods: 18 Superfoods, 101 Recipes, and Anti-aging Secrets from the Amazon to the Andes.”

“But this fruit also happens to be very delicious,” he said.

About the size and texture of a cherry tomato, but growing in a husk like a tomatillo, the Pichuberry is simultaneously sweet and tart. Villacorta says it’s similar in flavor to kiwi.

“It can be used in many different ways,” he says. “You can eat it fresh, of course. But also I have made salads with it … bread, muffins, scones, smoothies, you name it.

I’ve done also chicken cacciatore. I make gazpacho with it. I almost use the fruit anywhere you can think of using tomatoes. It’s versatile.”

Beyond U.S. Borders

The Pichuberry is actually better known in other parts of the world.

“It’s popular in Australia, South Africa, Europe, Asia, and in Central and South American countries, and it does have some popularity in Canada as well,” Popescu said. “But the U.S. is very limited in terms of its popularity.

“Now we’re working to market it and introduce it here to these markets.”

Pichuberry operates a full-service distribution facility in Arizona. The company is also partnering with a hub in New England to supply the Northeast.

Besides distributing the raw berries for retail and in bulk for foodservice and processing, the company is making the fruit available in puree, freeze-dried and powder forms.

“We can provide it to other manufacturers so they can create their own Pichuberry products,” Popescu said. “We’re also working to get it in premade salads.”

The company is also offering Pichuberry Infusion Juice, copacked by a supplier. Next up is a nutrition bar, he hopes.

“The biggest challenge is getting awareness, and providing the right amount of education for people to understand about the fruit, the nutritional properties,” Popescu said. “It takes a few times for folks to hear about it, and it takes even more times for them to start inquiring.

“Of course, social media brings a powerful factor for engaging folks directly, so we’re utilizing all of those as well.”

Growing Presence

About 1,000 retailers are carrying Pichuberry fruit and other products, in some cases. They include select Whole Food, Safeway, and Vons stores in the western U.S., along with Bristol Farms in southern California. The fruit was slated to come to Los Angeles area Stater Brothers stores, and it’s in some Colorado and Texas retailers. It sells for around $3.99 for a quart, or $5.99 for an 8-oz. clamshell.

“Together with all the stores, we’re essentially sending out a little short of 2,000 cases a week,” Popescu said. “That includes the juice – the juice is very small at this time.

“But we project the juice to follow up to be at the same level the fruit is, and we’re also projecting to go nationwide with the fruit by the end of 2014.”

Sergio Novoa, owner of GreenSurge in San Francisco, which offers seasonal organic smoothies and cleanses, is using fresh Pichuberries to make cold-press juice and as ingredients in its products.

“One of the things I look for on my menu is to make sure I get variety,” he said. “I can’t just use spinach for everything, lemons for everything.”

He’s been utilizing Pichuberries in combination with greens and other fruits.

“It turned out to be quite refreshing,” he said.

Novoa plans to launch a salad bar soon and expects to have Pichuberries in the mix. He says it’s been fun to introduce his customers to a new choice in berries.

“I keep a batch (of fresh) with me, so when people ask, ‘What’s a Pichuberry?’ I have them try it,” he said. “I like the fact that … I’m providing something you’re not finding anywhere. People aren’t aware of it yet, and that’s cool.”

Popescu and Villacorta don’t think that low awareness is going to last very long, though.

“The goal is to become national,” Villacorta said. “We want it to be another berry like blueberries and strawberries.

“We’re not trying to be just in specialty stores. We want to be across the nation.”

— By Kathy Gibbons, contributing writer