Frieda’s Launches Lychee and Rambutan Season with a Paired, Ready-for-Retail Program

The top-selling specialty produce brand brings category-building capability, a vertically integrated grower network and a consumer demand story that extends beyond the produce aisle.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – In your cocktail, on the menu, even at the perfumery … lychee and rambutan have left the produce aisle. The fruits are showing crossover strength in places that many buyers wouldn’t expect, and Frieda’s Branded Produce is bringing it full circle with this year’s lychee and rambutan season.  

Michelle Pfeiffer’s Henry Rose fragrance line has brought lychee into its products, describing the fruit as “crisp, tropical, texturally complex.” Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits mentions lychee as one of several Asian ingredients that add “complexity, balance and a sense of the exotic” in cocktails. In IFT’s flavor trends report from 2025, Paul Rockwell, corporate chef at Basic American Foods, noted the expanding influence of exotic fruit flavors like lychee and rambutan on menus.

Frieda’s Branded Produce is taking the excitement back where it started … to the produce aisle.

Frieda’s announced the start of the 2026 lychee and rambutan season. It’s going to market with both fruits, paired as a tropical summer program. Both SKUs present a clear seasonal narrative for retailers with an eye for building categories.

Lychee is already growing in fresh produce departments. According to Circana^*, the lychee category has seen 33% volume growth and over 30% velocity growth over the last year, with Frieda’s outperforming the category in units sold per store per week. It’s not just lychee where Frieda’s brand outperforms; Frieda’s Rambas® rambutan is accelerating, growing units per store per week by 19.2% year over year and outpacing all other brands.† 

Two tropical fruits tell a sweet story.

Lychee and rambutan are natural partners in retail displays. Shoppers who reach for one are likely to reach for the other. Both are small, tropical and sweet. Lychees are floral and bright while rambutans are mild and mellow. Their delicate, refreshing flavors complement desserts, beverages, salads, cheese boards and even seafood.

That’s why Frieda’s is bringing them to market together as a paired tropical, summer-sweet duo. It gives retailers an appealing seasonal narrative that consumers can taste their way through. Frieda’s social and consumer marketing meets shoppers where their curiosity starts, then drives them to the produce aisle, ready to buy.

A strategic program that sustains specialty produce sales.

The lychee season is limited, with about 6-8 weeks of availability from Mexico and 8-12 from South Africa. With

Frieda’s, retailers can harness the power of FOMO while securing the most reliable supply. Frieda’s operates a vertically integrated lychee program with direct grower relationships in Mexico and dedicated packing operations. When demand spikes, Frieda’s and its customers know where its fruit is coming from and how it’s being packed. The model provides a unique combination of consistency, quality and scale that supports fill rates and supports flexibility for seasonal surges. As lychee season winds down, retailers can transition to the fastest-selling brand of rambutan.

“Lychee and rambutan are breaking out of the produce aisle,” said Alex Jackson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Frieda’s. “Shoppers come into the store curious. Our job, and our retailers’ job, is to be ready for them. We’ve nurtured grower relationships, built packing operations and developed a narrative specifically for this moment. We want lychee and rambutan season to be something that shoppers look forward to every year.”   

Retailers interested in partnering with Frieda’s for the 2026 season can contact Frieda’s sales for program details, merchandising support and early-commit opportunities.

Source: Circana, Total U.S. multi-outlet (MULO), latest 52 weeks ending April 19, 2026.

 *Lychee: volume sales % change vs. year ago, average weekly units per store selling, and average weekly units per store selling % change vs. year ago.

 †Rambutan: average weekly units per store selling % change vs. year ago.

About Frieda’s Inc.

Frieda’s Branded Produce has inspired new food experiences for friends, families, and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit and dragon fruit to Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes and habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than two hundred unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, the subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the femalefounded company is a subsidiary of Legacy Farms LLC, based in Anaheim, California. Find Frieda’s on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok @FriedasProduce and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.