The pawpaw value chain in the eastern United States centers on a native fruit valued for its tropical flavor, nutritional benefits, and cultural heritage. A recent academic effort conducted collaboratively with industry stakeholders concluded that the strengths of the emerging pawpaw value chain included active representation through a growers’ association, camaraderie among peer producers, and alignment between farm characteristics (e.g., local, small-scale, family-owned, minimal to no use of crop protection inputs) and growing consumer preferences. Weaknesses include limited harvesting periods and short shelf life, incomplete knowledge of optimal production and processing methods, dispersed small-scale operations, and a lack of standardized fruit grades or certifications. Opportunities arise from consumers’ willingness to pay premium prices for quality fresh fruit and value-added items, appreciation for pawpaw’s unique taste and heritage connections, potential partnerships with retail outlets, and product diversification for year-long availability. Threats involve no registered crop protection options against diseases and pests, skepticism from food manufacturers and retailers about fruit quality and extracts due to the absence of safety protocols and standards, risks of health incidents, and information gaps on fruit composition and food safety (Signorini & Francino, 2024).
To seize opportunities, resolve weaknesses, and counter threats, the marketing literature offers practical guidance. A sound strategic plan requires careful selection of consistent, reinforcing, and optimized activities (Porter, 1998) that:
- Align marketing communications to result in consistent perceived value among consumers.
- Present product information to stakeholders and consumers in a simple, clear manner.
- Ensure that marketing communications reinforce the goal of growing the consumer base through sales of diverse pawpaw products in formal markets.
- Eliminate redundant marketing activities to optimize limited fiscal and manpower resources.
This article organizes projects under three strategic pillars that pawpaw industry leaders can implement to address weaknesses, eliminate threats, and take advantage of opportunities. The proposed activities focus on fostering consumer awareness, building public interest using educational materials, delivering value through diversified sales, and determining missing standards and protocols for field and processing practices. The next section presents the status of the pawpaw industry in the eastern United States, followed by a synthesis of the proposed strategies for industry growth.
Status of the Pawpaw Industry
The pawpaw value chain begins upstream with breeding programs and nurseries, where transactions often involve formal agreements for patented cultivars. Leading breeders, such as Kentucky State University (KSU) and some private entities, license interested nurseries to access cultivar-specific scion wood, with royalties based on tree sales or traded materials. While bred varieties offer desirable traits, many nurseries sell open-access cultivars like Mango, Sunflower, and Overleese. Sales of unlabeled seedlings are common, which can undermine commercial consistency or create challenges in operational plans. In the latter cases, the grower would learn about maturity patterns only four to five years after planting, as the trees approach their productive years. A notable concern is that numerous active nurseries sell pawpaw trees without holding appropriate licenses, potentially risking the spread of pests and diseases. Furthermore, the demand for grafted trees exceeds production at competent nurseries, limiting acreage expansion. Despite these facts, the pawpaw sector continues to grow. Relationships between nurseries and producers rely on trust, with occasional free exchanges of seeds and scions.
Producers are mostly small-scale orchard growers and woodland collectors. The 2022 agricultural census included pawpaw for the first time, reporting that 165 Ohio farms grew pawpaw on 198 acres. A survey conducted by the authors indicated that existing pawpaw farms produce an average of 128 pounds of viable fruit annually. Orchards were found to have an average of 24 fruit-bearing trees yielding 9.5 pounds each, far below the 23-pound benchmark under optimal practices (Signorini & Francino, 2024). Limited production at orchards often occurs due to growers' limited experience. On numerous occasions, producers are new to farming and their pawpaw operations average six years. Vertical integration is common, with nearly 40% of producers processing or manufacturing value-added food items, which uses approximately 22% of the produced fruit (Figure 1). Direct-to-consumer channels, such as on-farm, farmers' markets, and online sales portals, account for 64% of the fruit volume. Processors and manufacturers, mostly cottage-scale and unlicensed, rent commercial kitchens to reduce fixed costs and manage scale limitations. About 61% of fruit pulp goes to microbreweries for seasonal beers, with the rest used in items like pies, ice cream, and spreads, which are sold through direct outlets.
Retail primarily occurs at festivals and farmers' markets. In Ohio, the Annual Pawpaw Festival is a highlight. The event doubled attendance from 5,000 to 10,000 between 2010 and 2019. Local restaurants occasionally feature pawpaw dishes but hesitate to use pulp extracts due to quality and safety concerns. Overall, the pawpaw value chain features low business specificity, with spot markets dominating most transactions. Bilateral contracts occur primarily between breeders and producers. Consumers show strong interest, with 72% of survey respondents wanting more fresh fruit and 47% seeking value-added products, indicating growth potential if supply and standards improve (Signorini & Francino, 2024). Figure 1 summarizes the structure of the pawpaw value chain in the eastern United States.
Growth Strategy #1: Defining Best Agricultural Practices
The first pillar focuses on establishing guidelines for best agricultural practices (BAP). It encompasses the development of a fertilization program for pawpaw orchards, similar to resources available for other fruit crops (UC Davis, 2015— see fertilization guidelines for peaches and nectarines). The BAP literature must also provide guidance on pruning and training methods given that pawpaw trees can grow over 15 feet, making it impractical for commercial operations. The same is true for harvesting practices. Due to the short harvest window, directions on how to enhance harvesting efficiency while mitigating food safety risks are critical. Immediate post-harvest cooling and storage must be included in the BAP guidelines due to restrictive fresh fruit shelf-life. These directions can leverage information from existing studies (Archbold et al., 2003) and practical experience, which demonstrate that shelf life can extend for several weeks to provide producers with additional time to process. Irrigation and fertigation protocols must be included to favor production scalability while reducing exposure to weather-related events and yield reductions that lower profits.
Parallel to BAP are the definition of standardized grades for fresh pawpaw fruit and the development of a traceability system. Documents on these subjects would facilitate communication between producers and the rest of the value chain. They can alleviate concerns expressed by processors and food manufacturers related to food safety. A grades and standards tool pack to be used as a benchmark is the U.S. standards and grades for apples available through the USDA website (USDA/AMS, 2019). Moreover, the implementation of a traceability and recall system would increase transparency and build trust among partners, helping stakeholders communicate value throughout the chain. Pawpaw value-chain stakeholders should not wait for a public agency to implement and enforce standards. To the contrary, by leveraging the growers’ association representative power, producers may create and adopt grades as well as traceability systems to guide formal transactions, the writing of contractual clauses, definitions of measurement parameters, verification aspects of lots, enforcement of rules, etc.
Finally, the BAP guidelines may include pesticide safety directions to favor professional handling. For this to occur, pawpaw producers and related stakeholders must first address the limited number of registered crop protection products available for pawpaws. Critical diseases such as bordered leaf spot, caused by members of the genus Phyllosticta, and black spot, caused by Diplocarpon sp., cannot be effectively managed in pawpaws, even though active ingredients capable of controlling these diseases are registered for other crops (Pomper & Layne, 2004). To the authors’ knowledge, some Organic Materials Review Institute-listed products can be used to treat Phyllosticta-induced diseases on pawpaw leaves. Pests also add biotic pressure to pawpaw production, but not to the same degree of intensity. Pawpaw orchards are susceptible to insects like the peduncle borer (Talponia plummeriana), the Asian ambrosia beetle (Xylosandrus crassiusculus), and the Asimina webworm (Omphalocera munroei), even though treatments exist to repel or control them. Value-chain members must foster partnerships with research institutions and external collaborators to expand the labeled uses of existing chemicals and amend their registration with the designated agencies.
Growth Strategy #2: Enhancing and Supporting Manufacturing
The definition of good manufacturing practices (GMP) forms the second strategic pillar needed to promote growth in the pawpaw value chain. At present, pawpaw fruit processors often work out of home kitchens using rudimentary methods learned on a trial-and-error basis. While the resulting pulp production taps part of the existing market, cottage operations are constrained on two fronts: (i) limited scalability, and (ii) limited range of applications.
Optimizing procedures for producing pulp extract at different scales would greatly assist processors (Figure 2). This would allow them to gain scale (by aggregating production of peers, for instance) and diversify scope (by manufacturing advanced food items, selling intermediate materials to established food companies, and selling final products through retail chains) whenever possible. The pawpaw research program at Kentucky State University has information on processing and recipe development for jams. Processing rules in Kentucky and Ohio may differ.
Supplying food service and retail chains, nevertheless, leads to a second action—the development of food safety protocols. Food service and food retail chains follow rigorous food safety programs. For this reason, all items they procure must align to their existing rules. From a constructive perspective, this means that a new food safety protocol for pawpaw processing and manufacturing does not need to start from scratch. Stakeholders may rely on widely accepted safety certifications like the USDA-GAP and PrimusGSF to develop pawpaw-specific documentation. Because elaborating these files and navigating through the regulatory environment may be challenging for pawpaw producers or processors, partnerships are encouraged among leading members of the industry—possibly the representative growers’ association, food research institutions, and/or specialized consulting firms. These actions seek to resolve processing constraints, promote trust along the chain by developing transparent and widely accepted protocols, and set the stage for negotiations between pawpaw producers and managers of formal markets in food service or food retailing.
To further motivate product development and diversification into shelf-stable items for year-long offerings, the representative organization can organize periodic contests involving pawpaw enthusiasts, members of the industry, and researchers to create new pawpaw products and formulas. This may speed up product-diversification efforts while attracting the attention of the food industry at large for potential partnerships.
Growth Strategy #3: Information Dissemination and Networking
Information dissemination and networking actions seek to address food safety concerns, build consumer awareness, and capitalize on consumers’ social and environmental values that align with the attributes of pawpaw fruit. This pillar proposes the continuous elaboration of advocacy articles on fruit composition and consumption safety. Numerous scientific articles have explored the nutritional benefits of pawpaws compared to other fruit options (Brannan et al., 2021, Brannan et al., 2015, Kobayashi et al., 2008), which can be used as primary sources for communication materials. Sensory analysis results and consumer preference studies (Brannan et al., 2012, Templeton et al., 2003) may trigger consumers’ curiosity, helping expand the consumer base for pawpaw fruit and related products.
Inconclusive claims of Annonaceous acetogenin compounds in relative species and pawpaw fruits, or their potential links to causing Parkinson’s disease, must also be addressed. The misinterpreted medical literature (McLaughlin, 2008; Caparros-Lefebvre & Steele, 2005; Caparros-Lefebvre & Elbaz, 1999), in fact, stresses the applicability of pawpaw compounds as topical ointments and dietary supplements. Therefore, communication efforts in various formats may be appropriate to mitigate the negative effects of uninformed rumors.
Further communication materials may promote pawpaw as a suitable crop for beginning and small-scale farmers. Because pawpaw is native to the eastern United States, biotic pressure from diseases and pests is relatively low compared to introduced crops. This fact makes pawpaw production a safer choice for producers with limited agricultural experience. Furthermore, economic feasibility is possible in pawpaw operations as small as three acres (Signorini et al., 2025), making it an attractive candidate for small-scale orchards. Similar arguments can be used in articles directed to consumers, particularly younger generations who seek value-based experiences in consumption. Pawpaw products, fresh fruit included, resonate with young consumer dietary choices because pawpaws are native to the Midwest, are produced in small operations or are foraged from woodlands by family-owned enterprises, are produced with minimal to no use of pesticides, and are tied to the American heritage.
To broaden information dissemination, communication efforts should utilize existing channels through botanical gardens, non-governmental organizations, and environmental protection associations. Pawpaw production and consumption tends to meet the objectives of these groups due to the intrinsic characteristics of the fruit, its origins, and its socio-environmental appeal. To strengthen communications with value-chain stakeholders, mapping useful resources to foster scale and scope gains must be emphasized. Examples of internal communications include mapping the location of commercial kitchens available to rent, creating directories of licensed nurseries, and identifying potential retailers to distribute fresh fruit during the harvest season and to distribute value-added items year-round. These communication efforts reduce information gaps, build awareness, alleviate supply and retail barriers, and attract new entrants, promoting chain growth through collaboration.
The North American Pawpaw Growers Association’s (NAPGA) Role
NAPGA is a pivotal organization equipped to orchestrate chain-wide strategies. Already active in supporting growers and in events like festivals, it can widen its reach to represent the entire industry while instilling an entrepreneurial outlook among stakeholders. By prioritizing initiatives according to available time, labor, and funding, the Association can elevate professionalism, spur cooperative scaling, and steer the industry toward expansion.
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