“For over a month now, we have had a growing pineapple market but few volumes are available,” explains François Moran of Tropibana, a company based on the MIN of Rungis. This lack of supply could be essentially due to an unfavorable climate. “The weather has been bad in Costa Rica and Ivory Coast. Temperatures are too cold to enable sap flow and production. Additionally, the storms in the northern harbors are delaying the arrival of the shipments. Lately, I've sometimes unloaded 5-6 days late,” explains François.
The lack of supply brings much higher prices, regardless of the quality. “The delays can cause some concerns in terms of quality, but it has no influence on prices. Recently, we received pineapples that were very green, although tasty, which would have been extremely difficult to sell at one time. But in this context where there really is a shortage, the merchandise was sold instantly. Pineapples are being harvested earlier and earlier and pre-sold one or two days in advance, regardless of their color.”
As a result, there is little price difference between good quality pineapples and other pineapples. “Good brand pineapples are currently sold around 14-15 euros [15.4-16.5 USD] per package, and pineapples of average quality are sold around 12-13 euros [13.2-14.3 USD], while they usually are at least 5-6 euros [5.5-6.6 USD] cheaper,” explains François.
A critical situation which, despite the high prices, does not compensate for the decrease in sales linked to the lack of volumes available.
For more information:
François Moran
Tropibana
Phone: +33.620.17.20.13
f.moran@atominternational.com
www.tropibana.fr