The second shipment of mangosteens (山竹) are hitting store shelves at 10 Carrefour branches across Taiwan on Wednesday (Sept. 11), 16 years after Taiwan banned imports of the exotic purple fruits from Thailand.
With the title "Queen of all Fruits," the Council of Agriculture in May this year announced that it would conditionally begin importing the sweet fruit from Thailand, after a 16-year ban. However, the first batch of 1,000 kilograms of mangosteens to arrive was rejected due to packaging issues on Friday (Sept. 6).
Fortunately, the first batch of mangosteens to successfully pass inspection arrived at Carrefour on Saturday (Sept. 7) and went on sale on Sunday at its Neihu branch. In short order, all 138 boxes, each of which contained 5 mangosteens and weighed a total of 350 grams, were sold out, reported UDN.
The second batch of mangosteens will be hitting the shelves of 10 Carrefour stores across Taiwan on Wednesday (Sept. 11), reported SET News. This time around, the quantity is even smaller, with only a total of 560 kilograms.
After Carrefour stores open on Wednesday morning, customers will be limited to 2 boxes each. As the growing season is nearing its end, the company cannot guarantee additional shipments of the funky fruit.
As was the case on Sunday, each box will contain 5 mangosteens and will weigh a total of 350 grams. Each box will sell for NT$299 (US$9.50), according to the company.
Carrefour said that because the production season is quickly coming to an end, the fruit is in its final stage. One more batch of mangosteens was slated to be shipped via air freight to Taiwan on Thursday (Sept. 12), but if the harvest is not sufficient, then Wednesday's batch could be the last for this year.
The following are the Carrefour stores that will be selling mangosteens on Wednesday:
Taipei: Neihu store (200 boxes), Tianmu and Guilin stores (100 boxes)
New Taipei: Xindian (100 boxes)
Taoyuan: Jingguo and Neili stores (100 boxes)
Taichung: Ching Hai and Wenxin stores (100 boxes)
Tainan: Anping store (100 boxes)
Kaohsiung: Dingshan store (100 boxes)
By Taiwan News
