Frieda’s Runs Out of Angelcots Before Season Starts

AHAHEIM Calif. – Angelcot season is over, and it was great while it lasted. Their heavenly, luscious, perfume-like sweetness is well-loved and greatly anticipated by shoppers, but the elusive fruit is always in short supply. With the 2026 season already in the rearview mirror, Frieda’s Branded Produce recommends planning now for next year’s crop.

Frieda’s has been introducing specialty produce to American shoppers since 1962, and Angelcots fit a delicious lineage of kiwifruit, dragon fruit, Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes, and more than 200 other specialty produce items. Angelcots come by their urgency honestly. Tight supply and high demand mean retailers can have a difficult time getting them on their shelves. That is, unless they plan ahead.

“If you’ve tasted Angelcots you can understand why consumers look forward to their arrival every year,” said Alex Jackson, vice president of sales and marketing at Frieda’s Branded Produce. “The challenge is getting them into stores before the season is over, and the window is short. The retailers who plan get them. The ones who wait will leave it to luck.”

They have the juiciness of a ripe nectarine with the delicate texture and perfume-like aroma of a traditional apricot. The skin is pale yellow with a soft pink blush. Their sweetness is unlike anything else in the produce department. Shoppers who find them remember them.

The 2026 Angelcot season arrived two weeks ahead of schedule in mid-June. The supply naturally ebbs and flows from year to year, and this season’s volume was down about 20% compared to 2025. Two national retailers slotted Angelcots into their stone fruit programs, treating them as a peak-season, high-flavor opportunity buy. Powerhouse regional retailers from California to the East Coast also participated in Angelcot season, offering consumers a bite of bright, juicy refreshment during the hottest part of summer.

The annual Angelcot phenomenon is evidence that retailers who want to reinvigorate stone fruit programs should look to differentiation, not just more of the same. The broader fresh apricot category is down 4.5% in dollar sales and 8.4% in units for the 12-week period that overlaps Angelcot season.* Differentiated, named varieties are bucking that trend. Frieda’s Angelcots posted 32% dollar growth and 34% unit growth over the same window. Uniquely branded, story-driven stone fruit varieties are outperforming commodity apricots, even as the overall category volume softens.

Next season’s Angelcot supply is expected to hold close to 2026 levels. In 2028, volume is projected to increase by about 20%. Allocations for the 2027 season will be available on a first-committed basis.

For shoppers who discover Angelcots at retail, the scarcity is part of the experience. For retailers, it’s part of a planning conversation that’s worth having now. Retailers and produce buyers interested in carrying Angelcots next summer should contact their Frieda’s account manager early. Those who wait may be too late.

Source: Circana, Total U.S. multi-outlet and e-commerce (MULO+), Rolling 12 weeks ending Jul. 12, 2026 vs. year ago

^*Apricot vs. Angelcot, dollar sales and units. 

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 female-founded 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.