Shortage of ackee in Jamaica and abroad

Jamaicans are currently facing a shortage of canned ackee caused by the damage to trees from Hurricane Beryl in early July.

Suppliers of ackee from Jamaica, as well as purchasers in the United States, indicate that there is very little of the national fruit on the local market, resulting in its unavailability overseas.

Canute Sadler, proprietor of Stanmark Processors Limited, one of Jamaica’s largest exporters of canned ackee, said the crop was ready for reaping when Beryl struck the island on July 3.

“We had never had a hurricane so early in the season, and the July and August crop was totally destroyed,” Sadler told the Financial Gleaner. “We are producing for a small season now. We will have greater production next year, if we don’t have another hurricane.”

Stanmark, which has processing factories in the parishes of St Thomas, Clarendon, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, said at the same time, the demand for ackee has taken off locally, with much more being consumed in the hotels this year.

“The tourist industry is buying more ackee than normal. We have seen our local distribution quadruple. We could sell 20,000 to 30,000 cases right here (in Jamaica),” Sadler said.

Each case holds 24 cans of ackee and sells for about US$120.

Don Wehby, chairman of GraceKennedy Group, which is one of the country’s largest food exporters, confirmed that Beryl significantly damaged the ackee crop, and said the canned product is not expected to return to the US market until November.

“The inventory of ackees in the US market is very low, compared to previous years. Hurricane Beryl came early in the ackee crop when processors were gearing up to produce. This was also at a time when inventories from the old crop were depleted,” said Wehby.

“The good news is that the ackee trees held up well during the hurricane, and by November, consumers in the US will see an improvement in the availability of ackees on their shelves,” he said.

Kenneth Mitchell, who operates Choice Caribbean Market, a food store in Dacula, Georgia, in the United States, says he has not had any supplies of ackee for more than a month.

“We got a few of the Spur Tree brand from a source, but all the brands are scarce,” Mitchell said, adding that ackee is one of his best-selling items.

Sadler criticised the government for being lacklustre in its drive to increase the production of tree crops in Jamaica, especially ackee, breadfruit and avocado.

“The problem is, the government has not developed an agricultural programme to encourage farmers to grow tree crops on a whole,” said the Stanmark proprietor.

Ackee is possibly a US$100-million industry, and if we could plant ackee, breadfruit and avocado in abundance, we could generate US$300 million a year,” he said.

In 2022, Jamaica’s ackee exports were valued at US$25.2 million.

FACE of Food

Earlier this year, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries & Mining Floyd Green announced the new FACE of Food Initiative, under which strategic focus will be on establishing approximately 1,000 acres of ackee trees in the next three years through a public-private partnership.

Production areas identified include St Ann, Clarendon, Trelawny, Manchester, St Thomas, and St Elizabeth.

Green said ackee orchards would be established, which would become the backbone for cultivating new ackee production zones, enabling growth in quantity and quality.

An incentivisation programme was also announced directed towards pruning, nutrition support, and comprehensive crop care.

But Sadler, who has been exporting ackee since 1991, is not impressed.

“I am familiar with a lot of talk from this government as well as the previous one, and possibly the one to come,” he said. “Ackee involves a lot of small farmers; it’s not a ‘big man’ business, so you don’t find government paying much attention to it,” he said.

Sadler says ackee trees should be planted all over Jamaica, as it is relatively easy to care for, is not affected by many diseases, and takes approximately four years to start bearing fruit.

“To me, government is not serious about ackee. You come out of the airport (in Kingston and Montego Bay) and you don’t see one ackee tree. It’s your national fruit, but you don’t have it planted anywhere.”

luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com