In 2014, pineapples accounted for 23% of the global harvest of tropical fruits, which also includes mangoes, avocados and papayas. The world's largest pineapple exporters are the Philippines, Thailand, Costa Rica and Indonesia.
Pineapples are a perennial plant of the family of the bromeliads, native to Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. It contains plenty of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. It can blossom after 20 to 24 months and yields fruit within the six following months.
Most of the world's production is intended for processing and not for fresh fruit export. The export market for fresh pineapple is dominated by Costa Rica, which accounts for 29% of the world's production. The United States is the world's largest importer of fresh pineapples, with demand amounting to 586,000 tonnes.
Historically, pineapples have been considered a fruit for the wealthy, since due to the difficulties of its supply and transportation, only those who had the money could buy that rare and exotic fruit.
Pineapples impressed the Spanish conquerors, leaving written evidence of it in allusions to its crown of leaves, for which reason it was called the queen of fruits. In the early twentieth century, American companies started producing pineapples on a large scale and the fruit became more affordable.
In Costa Rica, the growth of the pineapple industry was considerable from 2000. In the next decade, production grew by almost 300%. Pineapple plantations cover about 45,000 hectares of the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, and generate about $ 800 million in annual revenue. Three quarters of pineapples sold in Europe come from Costa Rica.
The price of pineapples is at its highest level since August 2013
In recent months, the price has shot upward due to heavy rains in Costa Rica, which have devastated the plantations, and to the weakness of the Euro, which has lost more than one-tenth of its value against the dollar in 2015, contributing also to the rising cost of tropical fruit.
According to a report by The Grocer, European importers were paying $ 12.38 per 11 kilo box of Costa Rican pineapples in March, up 78% compared to the $ 6.94 paid last November.
Due to the abundant rainfall in recent months in Costa Rica, the fruit has been taking longer to ripen. Furthermore, last October, the worst Turrialba volcano eruption of the century was also registered, and this will cause the fruit to take longer to reach the desired levels of sweetness. All of this has consequently led to a reduction of exports and a shortage of pineapples from Costa Rica in Europe.
The consultant Mintec estimated that Costa Rican pineapple export volumes will drop by 15% in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year. Experts say it is difficult to predict future prices, since the delay in the flowering of these fruits could lead to market oversupply in a few months, meaning prices would fall in the summer.
Source: loffit.abc.es