It is a complicated period for the pineapple market, with "limited supply" and rather "heterogeneous" quality, according to François Moran of Tropibana, an import company present at Rungis. This difficult situation is due to climatic problems in production, which have slowed down the growth of these exotic fruits.
Faced with this limited offer, mainly from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Costa Rica, prices have skyrocketed. "The very beautifully-colored batches are selling at 13 to 15 euros [14 to 16.2 USD] per package. The green pineapples sell at 10 to 12 euros [10.8 to 12.9 USD] per package. There is a lot of destocking going on at the moment, with average product quality. Unfortunately, if the quality is disappointing, clients will not come back, no matter the selling price."
The market is under-supplied, and sales are held back by excessive prices in a consumer context that is not particularly favorable to exotic fruits. "We must not forget that people are not rushing to buy pineapples at the moment. They want summer products like peaches, nectarines and apricots. Pineapples and bananas are fruits that are best eaten in the winter."
The growing concept of freshly-cut fruit
While the sales of pineapples by the piece is currently encountering some difficulties, freshly cut pineapples seem to be gaining more followers. "Some of my clients peel their pineapples because it makes it easier to sell them. Some have sold almost 20-30% more cut pineapples. The freshly-cut trend is becoming more and more popular. While a pineapple can be sold at 1.5 euros [1.6 USD] a piece in supermarkets, the same pre-cut pineapple can be sold at 12.90 euros [13.9 USD] a kilo. The price difference is mind-boggling but for lack of time, people tend to go for the easy way out and are prepared to pay more for it."
For more information:
Tropibana
François Moran
Tel: +33.620.17.20.13
Email: [email protected]