New business hopes to expand jujube fruit popularity in US

Global Business

New business hopes to expand jujube fruit popularity in US

There are thousands of fruits in the world – but most U.S. families consume just a handful of them on a regular basis.

One farmer in Southern California is hoping to broaden the American palate with a fruit that’s far better-known in Asia – the jujube.

CCTV America’s Mark Niu explains.

Inside the Las Padres National Forest in Southern California, Rock Front Ranch has one eye on the future and one on the past.

Owner Alisha Taff is a horse trainer, cattle raiser and jujube farmer.

In a drought stricken region, Taff found that jujubes hardly need any water, aren’t finicky about the soil and have no natural pests in the U.S.

That means no pesticides needed to grow a fruit that’s packed with vitamins, minerals, and a sweet kick.

Chinese medicine has long used the jujube for boosting the immune system, leading Taff to call it a nutraceutical crop.

From a business perspective, it would seem that exporting jujubes to Asia or selling to Asian food markets would be the logical choice. But Alisha Taff has a different idea. She’s currently selling to food co-ops and Western grocery chains like Whole Foods.”

Taff is constantly introducing the fruit to other farmers, school children and the community and she’s Chinese mother actually first fed her jujubes when she was a child. Now, it’s her turn to share those benefits with others.


Mark Niu tours Alisha Taff’s jujube farm