“You see anything from $9-$11 pineapples and then you also see $5-$7 pineapples on the USDA reports. I don’t know what kind of pineapple those are, but they’re keeping the market very low,” says Maurizio Ghelfi of Carson, Ca.-based Trucconova, LLC.
Earlier in the year, the dual market seemingly grew out of weather events that took place over the holidays including the deep freeze that happened in late December over much of North America. And with steady supply coming in, Ghelfi isn’t seeing much change on the horizon for Costa Rican pineapples.
Others impacted too
“Last year at this time we were selling for $12-13 and right now we can’t go up past $10. We are also still not able to increase our volume but we’re just doing something to stay in the loop,” says Ghelfi. While he sees the effect it has had on Costa Rican imports, it’s also taking its toll on other countries importing pineapple such as Mexico. Ghelfi also notes that his business has added other commodities because it can’t stay much longer with pineapple as its main commodity. “Before we had this $11-$12 Costa Rican market, we also had the $8-$10 good Mexican fruit coming in. And now Mexican pineapple doesn’t have any room. As long as we keep seeing this other fruit on the market, nothing will change.”
For more information:
Maurizio Ghelfi
Trucconova, LLC
Tel: +1-(310) 952-9841
mghelfi@trucconova.com