Two weeks ago my partner looked into the future of the fruit industry.
He used his futures thinking skills and saw some wild changes coming:
If you missed it, read his full breakdown here. It's gorgeous and thoughtful and will make you think differently about your banana.
This week, I wanted to dive into some amazing customer experiences that companies are already building around this future. My hope is that you find inspiration, steal ideas that work for your industry, and think bigger than you have before.
You've probably heard of food subscription boxes - Imperfect Produce for "ugly" vegetables, Factor for meal prep, HelloFresh for people who can't meal plan. But did you know there's a subscription box for tropical fruit?
Tropical Fruit Box offers a huge selection of subscription boxes. And I mean huge. They even have a "build your own" option where you can fully customize what you get. Centered around Caribbean, Central, and South American fruits like tamarind, guava, and papaya, these boxes offer ways for immigrants to get a taste of home or adventurous eaters to try new things. As they've expanded their line, they now offer many SE Asian treats as well like dragon fruit and mangosteen.
Here's what surprised me most: the price.
For anyone who keeps thinking people won't pay for what you offer because it's too expensive, Tropical Fruit Box is offering 3 lbs of mangosteen for $119. (It does mention in the description that Queen Victoria once offered a knighthood to anyone who could deliver her the fruit, so you know it must be delicious.)
For someone craving the taste as badly as the queen, $119 is worth it. Plus, that customer is going to be incredibly loyal to the company that can deliver the fruit right to their door...monthly.
Something else they do well: they offer 3 sizes for every box. This way a single-person household doesn't have too many pineapples and larger families don't have to fight over the mangos.
What you can steal from this:
You know how there's a travel company for just about every type of traveler? Viking River Cruises for PBS-loving retirees, EF Tours for broke college students (done that!), and REI for cyclists who want to bike abroad. Well, I found a travel company for durian foodies. That's right - this group travels specifically to eat durian.
The Year of Durian will teach you how to pick good ones at the market, take you on multiple tasting sessions, and offer you lots of group activities.
These trips are based in Thailand so they're a great add-on for people visiting. It's billed as a skill-learning opportunity and as a great memory. But let's be honest - bragging rights are also a huge sell because who wouldn't want to tell all their friends that they went on a durian tasting expedition while abroad?
Since durian is such a divisive fruit (if you know, you know), everyone on these trips gets to bond over their love for this stinky fruit. That means they're already super fans who have found their people.
What you can steal from this:
The pawpaw has a little problem in that its window for ripeness is so short. That's why we don't see it in stores, but a science initiative is working on fixing that while also building community support.
The Pawpaw Project offers growing guides, works to develop hybrid species (that might be hardy enough for the consumer market), and connects growers with one another. There's a crowdfunding campaign on there too. But here's my favorite part: it has a map of all the North American pawpaw festivals.
This means they're helping new people experience the fruit in a fun way, in addition to helping diehard fans hit up more than one event. This sort of additional experience really gives people a reason to keep coming back to the site, and it makes the project itself more approachable because people can interact with it year over year.
What you can steal from this:
Notice something about all three of these? Tropical Fruit Box is solving homesickness and adventure-seeking, not just selling fruit. The durian tours are creating experiences and bragging rights, not just arranging meals. The Pawpaw Project is building community and preserving culture, not just growing a crop.
None of them are just transactional - they're transformational. They're creating belonging (immigrants finding home tastes), identity (durian lovers finding their people), and mission (pawpaw preservationists saving a species). That's how you build super fans - not by selling stuff, but by creating experiences people want to be part of.
Look at your business. Are you just selling a thing, or are you creating an experience worth talking about?
Ask yourself: Can I add customization like the build-your-own fruit box? Can I go niche and weird like durian tourism? Can I build community around my thing like the pawpaw map?
Pick one of these ideas and brainstorm how it applies to your offering. Then actually try it. Because somewhere out there, your fans are waiting for you to get specific, to lean into what makes you different, and to build something they can belong to.
Stay curious, Megan
P.S. My husband's futures thinking piece is beautiful and thoughtful, and I'm over here finding the weirdos already living in that future. We're very different writers - he paints elegant futures and I find the people already building them. Together we make a complete picture. If you haven't read his piece yet, seriously go read it.