Persimmons: Fuyu and Hachiya from the San Joaquin Valley

Persimmons are a three-month fruit with two personalities. Fuyu is eaten crisp like an apple; Hachiya has to go completely soft before it is edible at all. California grows about 99 percent of the U.S. crop¹, most of it in the San Joaquin Valley around Fresno and Tulare, and King Quality Produce carries both varieties from October through December: Fuyu in two-layer boxes or single-layer trays sized by count, and Hachiya in single-layer trays.

Two fruits that share a name

Both are Diospyros kaki, the Oriental persimmon, native to China and first brought to the United States in the mid-1850s². Fuyu and Hachiya are the two commercial cultivars², and together they make up about 95 percent of the market¹. The difference between them is tannin. Fuyu is non-astringent: squat and tomato-shaped, it is harvested when the skin turns from green to yellowish-green or yellow and can be eaten firm, with soluble solids of 18 to 20 percent at harvest³. Hachiya is astringent: acorn-shaped, harvested at orange to reddish-orange, and running sweeter at 21 to 23 percent soluble solids³, but inedible until the flesh has softened to jelly and the tannins have dropped away.

Commercially, astringency can be removed: UC Davis reports that 24 hours in air enriched with 80 percent carbon dioxide at 68 F removes it while keeping the fruit firm, where 10 ppm of ethylene also removes it but softens the fruit too much to market³. Most Hachiya sold in Los Angeles is firm and untreated, which is why it needs a note on the display or a buyer who already knows what it is.

We carry Fuyu in a two-layer box of about 22 lb or a single-layer tray, sized by count, and Hachiya in a single-layer tray only.

Where it grows and when

Production is concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley, with smaller plantings in the Sacramento Valley and along the central and southern coast⁴. UC Davis lists the commercial counties as principally Fresno, Tulare and San Diego². It is a small crop by California standards. The state harvested 2,898 acres in 2012, producing 16,898 tons worth $20.9 million². Acreage fell from more than 4,000 acres in 2013 to under 2,000 in 2014 on overproduction and weak prices, and has since climbed back to more than 3,000 acres harvested in 2024; the 2022 crop was valued at $35 million⁴. Recent plantings have favored Fuyu, and handlers describe Hachiya demand as shrinking⁴.

Trees start bearing three to five years after planting and live about 60 years on average². They need fewer than 100 hours of winter chill².

Harvest starts in late September or early October and runs through December, with the heaviest volume in October and November. In 2025, picking began in late September, started light and built through November⁴; a warm autumn delayed early color on Fuyu¹; then growers picked ahead of mid-November rains, and some reported yields 20 percent below average⁴. One Fresno County shipper sold a 25 lb box for around $25, about 20 percent above the prior year⁴. In spring, imports from Chile and Israel fill the gap until the next California crop¹.

How to buy it

Fuyu is sold by count: the number of fruit in a single layer or in a two-layer box. A lower count means bigger fruit. Our two-layer box runs about 22 lb; the single-layer tray is the choice for retail displays and for the largest sizes. Hachiya comes in a single-layer tray only. Tell us whether you want large fruit for display or smaller fruit for slicing, and we will match the count.

On receiving, use the UC Davis quality indices. Color should be yellow to orange, size medium to large, and fruit should be free of growth cracks, mechanical injury and decay³. Fuyu should be firm: UC Davis sets the mark at a penetration force above 5 lb-force with an 8 mm tip³, fruit that feels like a firm apple, not a ripe tomato. Hachiya should also arrive firm and flawless, because it will soften in your cooler or on your shelf, and any cut or bruise becomes a soft spot first.

• Fuyu: firm, yellow-orange, no growth cracks; count matches the order
• Hachiya: firm on arrival, deep orange, calyx clean, no splits
• Both: no soft spots, no bruising on the shoulders, trays dry

Storage and shelf life

Persimmons want to be very cold and away from ethylene. The UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center gives an optimum of 0 C plus or minus 1 C (32 F plus or minus 2 F) and 90 to 95 percent relative humidity, with a freezing point around 28 F that varies with sugar content³. Held that way in ethylene-free air, shelf life is up to three months, and up to five months in controlled atmosphere³. Respiration is slow at 32 F, 2 to 4 ml of CO2 per kg per hour, and three to five times faster at 68 F³.

Ethylene is the enemy. Persimmons are very sensitive to it: at 68 F, 1 ppm of ethylene softens fruit below the 4 lb-force marketability limit in about six days, and 10 ppm does it in about two days³. Do not store persimmons next to apples, pears, bananas or anything else that is ripening.

There is one more trap. Fuyu and the other non-astringent types are chilling sensitive between 41 and 59 F, where they develop flesh browning and softening, and ethylene makes it worse³. That band is where a general produce cooler often sits, so either hold Fuyu at 32 F or move it through quickly. Hachiya you want to soften can sit at room temperature until it gives.

Nutrition

Per 100 g of raw Japanese persimmon, USDA FoodData Central lists 70 calories, 18.6 g carbohydrate, 12.5 g sugars, 3.6 g fiber and 80 g water⁵. Minerals and vitamins per 100 g include 161 mg potassium, 7.5 mg vitamin C, 0.355 mg manganese and 81 µg vitamin A as retinol activity equivalents⁵. The orange color is carotenoids: 253 µg beta-carotene, 1,447 µg beta-cryptoxanthin and 834 µg lutein plus zeaxanthin per 100 g⁵. One 2.5-inch fruit weighs about 168 g⁵, so a single Fuyu is a source of around 6 g of fiber. UC Davis describes persimmons as a good source of carotenoids, vitamin A, vitamin C and dietary fiber³.

In the kitchen

Fuyu is the foodservice persimmon because it behaves like an apple. Sliced into wedges it holds its crunch in salads with arugula, pomegranate arils and sharp cheese; shaved thin it goes on cheese boards; diced it works in slaws and salsas. Retailers merchandise it in bulk and bags and promote it in fall and winter, when consumer interest peaks¹; one national specialty distributor reported five percent sales growth on Fuyu in 2025¹.

Hachiya is the baking persimmon. Once fully soft, the pulp goes into puddings, breads and muffins much the way ripe bananas do¹, and it purees and freezes well. Dried, it becomes hoshigaki, the hand-massaged Japanese dried persimmon; a Placer County grower ships his by mail order to customers in more than 40 states⁴. In Los Angeles, Koreatown and Little Tokyo markets move fresh and dried fruit through the holidays, and pastry kitchens take the soft Hachiya a retail shelf cannot sell.

Counts and sizing shift week to week as the harvest moves from early blocks to late ones. Call the office at (213) 627-7181 or email office@kingqualityproduce.com for this week's Fuyu counts and Hachiya tray availability.