Lychee love.

Lychees are making their move beyond Chinese restaurants, as the small red fruit hits the produce aisles of mainstream supermarkets throughout Southern California.

At least 10 top grocery retailers will be carrying lychees during its May-October season, the most ever, according to Robert Schueller, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Melissa's/World Variety Produce Inc., the largest distributor of specialty produce in the country.

Sales of the fruit, priced at $3.99 to $6.99 per pound, have grown 20 percent annually during the last five years. "We continue to see double digit growth, (and) we don't see any sign of it not continuing," Schueller said.

Lychees were first introduced locally in restaurants and ethnic stores, and then were stocked at specialty markets such as Bristol Farms. It's one of several Asian fruits that are becoming more popular in mass market groceries. Others include pummelos (a pale green grapefruit-like fruit,) star fruit (a waxy green fruit with a star shape), and sweet young coconuts.

Staff reporter Rachel Brown can be reached by phone at [phone], ext. 224, or by e-mail at [e-mail].