What Fruits Are in Fruit Delivery Boxes in May?

Wondering what fruits are in our fruit delivery boxes in May and why you might not see peaches just yet? I’m here to help. In today’s Chief Banana newsletter, I’m answering some burning questions from fruit fans like you.

1. I saw peaches at the store–why aren’t there any in my FruitGuys box yet?

Great question! The harvest of summer fruit like cherries, apricots, and peaches is starting in California and South Carolina… but sometimes the first fruit of the season isn’t the best. If our buyers think a batch of early peaches hasn’t had enough time to develop that deliciously balanced sweet-but-acidic flavor, we’ll hold off on putting them in our boxes. We work with our growers and taste-test their fruit so we can feature it when the flavor, color, and size are just right.

We’ve already added some stone fruit to our Harvest and Season’s Best mixes (especially on the West Coast). In the Midwest and on the East Coast, you should see peaches from California and the southern states in your mixes soon if you haven’t already. We’ll move to local-to-you peaches when they’re available, usually sometime in June.

2. Are peaches a citrus, like oranges?

Peaches and oranges do look a bit alike—they’re both round and orange, after all—but they’re from different fruit families. Peaches are stone fruits (fruits with pits) related to nectarines, plums, and cherries. Oranges are citrus fruits, like grapefruits, lemons, and limes. They’re pit-free and have thicker skin and pulpy flesh. So nope, peaches aren’t a citrus! To see which fruits are in the citrus family and how they’re related, check out our citrus family tree.

3. Aren’t citrus fruits winter fruits? Why are there still so many of them in my box in May?

Yes! Citrus season peaks in the winter months, but there are some late-season varieties, like Ojai Pixie tangerines, that are delicious through June. We’ll continue to include them in our boxes while we can. Remember that if your mix looks heavy on citrus, oranges aren’t the only family members in there. Right now, we’re adding fun bites like Pixies, Minneola tangelos, blood oranges, and mandarins to our mixes across the country.

We’re also rounding out our mixes with other farm-fresh fruits that aren’t from the citrus or stone fruit families. Depending on your mix and region, you might see Red Bartlett pears, Granny Smith apples, Ataulfo mangoes, or avocados in your box this month. You can enter your zip code here to see exactly what’s in your local mix this week.

Welcome to the Chief Banana newsletter—weekly letters from the desk of The FruitGuys’ CEO. Find more Chief Banana newsletters here. To get Chief Banana in your inbox every week, fill out the “Subscribe to our Newsletter” form on this page.