26 percent of all fresh pineapple sales take place in December, mainly because of Christmas. According to Mercasa, the network of wholesale markets, the main production areas of pineapple, a fruit that ripens off the plant, are in Costa Rica, Ivory Coast and South Africa. One of the three largest importers of fresh pineapple in Spain, the firm Cultivar, which is present in the wholesale markets in Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Bilbao and Palma de Mallorca, plans to double its average monthly sales of this product at this time of the year, said Sandra Sitjar, owner and chief marketer of Cultivar.
According to Sitjar, they expect to import and place between 1.2 million boxes of fresh pineapples at approx. 12 kilos each among the retail and catering market this month; 200,000 boxes of five or six units each, are related directly to Christmas dinners.
Sitjar also stated that the seasonal consumption of pineapple is becoming smaller and more distributed throughout the year; currently, Costa Rica's pineapple is the most demanded pineapple because of its ripeness and sweet flavour. According to her, consumers will find the price of pineapple's lower than 2013, as it will cost 1.5 Euro/kilo, and its price last Christmas was 1.7 Euro.
Source: Efeagro