"Pineapples difficult to sell on free market"

Day trading with pineapples is a matter of survival at the moment. "The volumes remain good. However, large sales outside of regular programmes are still lagging far behind. This has resulted in prices of between EUR5 and 6", says Frank Ocampo van Hagé International. 

It is very hard to predict how the market will behave in the coming weeks. The Dutch importer does, however, expect it to be a matter of biting the bullet until the end of July. "After that, the surpluses of natural flowering fruits is over. I expect the day trading market to then be somewhat healthier", he says. 

"The strikes and delays of the last weeks in and from Costa Rica have 'helped' the situation a little. However, there are still considerable volumes. Traditionally, we, of course, have competition on the market during this period. This is usually from other, less expensive fruit like stone fruit and melons. Yet, pineapples are a product in their own right. People are paying a lot for a 4 kg box of limes", concludes Frank. 

"Mexican limes are selling well at the moment. They are brought in by boat and plane. Just as good as the 1-0 Mexican world cup win over world champions, Germany", laughs Frank.