ABSTRACT
A wide range of specialty fruit and vegetable products are available on the market and more are continuously introduced. According to the annual report The State of the Specialty Food Industry 2011 by the National Association for Specialty Food Trade (NASFT),1 from 2008 to 2011 the sale of specialty shelf-stable fruits and vegetables increased 11%, reaching a retail sale of $605 million in 2010; and specialty frozen fruits and vegetables increased 11.9%, reaching a retail sale of $256 million in 2011. Some of the unique characteristics of the specialty fruit and vegetable products may include the use of exotic fruit and vegetable varieties with distinguish avors, such as hardy kiwi fruit and passion fruit; use of specialty ingredients in processed fruit and vegetable products, including all natural, gluten-, dairy-, and wheatfree; and application of novel and uncommon processing technologies that have minimal impact on fresh and delicious avors and bioactive compounds of the products for health promotion. e specialty fruit and vegetable products include dierent categories of items from fresh and frozen to dried and shelf-stable products.
