Lieve Michielsen, Special Fruit:
"Baby pineapple has stable demand and peaks in December"
Also to be used as a bowl
She says that the pineapple is mainly bought by specialist retailers. "People choose the good flavour, and apart from the flesh, you can use the shell as a bowl for a fruit salad or shrimp cocktail. The baby pineapple is very decorative and tasteful. It can be combined with many products. A slice of baby pineapple with a heavy meal can improve the digestion, and it soothes before or after a spicy meal."
Increasing demand
The production of the baby pineapple is done in the same way as an 'ordinary' pineapple. It is a variety of the regular pineapple and the most common variety is Victoria. The Victoria is sweet in flavour and has juicy flesh. In recent years the demand for baby pineapple has risen slightly. "Our regular supplier from Mauritius has over 300 hectares of land and produces 1,500 tonnes of very high quality baby pineapples every year. They have also noticed an increase in the demand from Europe in recent years."
For more information:
Special Fruit
Europastraat 36
2321 Meer - Belgium
Tel: +32-(0)3 3301792
Fax: +32-(0)3 3150843
www.specialfruit.be
[email protected]
