Overview of the Global Pineapple Market

Fresh Pineapple

Costa Rica

Germany

Published Apr 26, 2021

Costa Rica, the world's leading pineapple exporter, grew 9% in exports in January and February of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Costa Rica has seen a considerable increase in demand this year as a result of the Chinese ban on imports from Taiwan, and prices have surged by 14%. While China is looking for alternative buyers, European countries still face limited supply, keeping the market balanced. The US has shown an increase in demand due to the Easter holidays and supply being slightly low. The Philippines is still without signs of a production recovery after a low 2020 year. Overall, the global pineapple industry is in recovery from the effects of COVID-19.

Costa Rica: Increase in Exports as Prices Surge

The good weather from the last months has allowed Costa Rican growers to keep supplying pineapples all year round. Considerable growth in exports of Costa Rican pineapples when supply in other regions is low has led to a price increase of 14% in the first 12 weeks of 2021. This can be attributed to the gradual re-opening of the global economy amid the easing lockdown restrictions. Pineapple exports increased 9% in both January and February compared to the same period last year. Costa Rica is the world's largest pineapple exporter, exporting mainly to North America and Europe, but has also shipped remarkable quantities of pineapple to China in recent years. However, the recent price increase is expected to be short-lived since China is projected to import from countries that are geographically closer and compete with Costa Rica. Those include the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The Netherlands: Limited Supply maintains steady prices

As with the rest of the European countries, in the Netherlands, pineapple sales are going steady but with limited supply. Sales have clearly felt the decrease from the hospitality industry, but the fact that supermarkets are sourcing large volumes of pineapple due to the fear of shortages has the prices stand at around EUR 9. The country is waiting to have more fruit come into the market, which is supposed to happen in May when the domestic production should arrive. By then, probably, the rise will decrease slightly due to oversupply in the wholesale supply chain market. However, Dutch imports should maintain their numbers for this year as delays in the shipments have made the European market eager for pineapples this summer, and demand should peak right away, starting in June.

China: The Current Change of suppliers have brought a surge in prices

The temporary ban on Taiwanese pineapples has led to a shortage in the Chinese market supply and a rise in the demand from other pineapple suppliers. The impact on the Taiwanese pineapple industry after the ban has been of a lot of damage, as 97% of all Taiwanese exports are sent to the Chinese market. The major gap in the supply has been taken by new suppliers such as Panama, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand. However, the geographical distance between Costa Rica and China means that exports take longer and comes with a considerable increase in logistics cost that increases the wholesale price. Because of this reason, Costa Rica exported only 21 tons of pineapples to China in 2020, and it is estimated that in the first three months of 2021, those exports have gone to 225 tonnes.

According to Shelly Chen, Tridge´s Engagement Manager in China, there have been too many pineapples going to Hong Kong for the first three weeks of March 2021 after the announcement of China's import ban of Taiwan's pineapple. The price of Taiwanese pineapple began to drop in the retail market in Hong Kong. The pineapple season has not yet reached its peak. Thus, exporters and buyers should be alert of oversupply in the market.

Philippines: Decrease in Production followed by record-high ROI

The Philippines has seen immense growth in exported value in fresh and dried pineapples in China during the period of 2018-2019, of 166%, due to the popularity of the MD2 variety and the fact that the Philippines can supply pineapples all year round. Last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority’s updated production cost and returns of selected agricultural commodities announced pineapple to be the crop with the highest ROI for growers along with watermelon. However, pineapple production output was lower by 8.6% from the previous year affected by the onset of COVID-19, as farmers are refusing to grow pineapples during the lockdown and the decreased demand. Additionally, pineapple factory closures have made it impossible for suppliers to export pineapples overseas. Pineapples are the Philippines' second-largest fruit export behind bananas, and in 2019 it exported 625,569 tonnes.

Spain and Germany: Delayed shipments create difficult market conditions

In previous years, there has been an increase in the demand for pineapples all over Europe. However, this year the catering and hospitality channels have been severely affected due to the COVID-19 restrictions, which had resulted in a slight decrease in consumption. Spain is currently sourcing fresh pineapples from Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Costa Rica and has in all three experienced delays in shipments due to the container shortage crisis. This has caused a slight increase in prices, especially for yellow-strong color pineapples, which are considered premium in the market, reaching selling prices up to EUR 15 to 16 per box. Volumes are expected to slowly recover by May, and prices should stabilize with this.

As for Germany, the pineapple market is strongly impacted by the shortage of air traffic. Its been reported that the air freight capacity remains very low, and the shortage of freight is taking its cost on the supply and prices. Supply currently comes from Costa Rica, and pineapples arrive in limited volumes, which means that the prices for the average sizes are higher. For this reason, pineapples are increasingly perceived as a convenience or premium item, which still has a reasonable demand in the German market.

Australia: Taiwan´s new buyer after severe production shortage

The Australian pineapple sector has been hit hard by labor shortages that had affected the entire production and supply chain of pineapple. Thus, Australia has turned for supply to Taiwan, which offers good quality pineapples for the domestic Australian market, for which consumption remains high. Australia approved the import of fresh Taiwanese pineapples last March. The first batch of 2 tons of fresh Taiwanese pineapples arrived via air shipment to Australia and complete inspection on March 27, 2021. This was the first time an import of pineapples from Taiwan arrived in Australia. By law, importers can only buy pineapples from five countries: Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and the Solomon Islands.

According to Jose SalmanTridge´s Engagement Manager in Australia, the air shipment has increased the cost of the pineapple and limited the opportunities in the Australian market. However, the highly-demanded tropical fruit sometimes is not sufficient outside its peak season (November to February); thus, Australia imports for the rest of the year.

Taiwan: Looking for diversification after the Chinese ban

Since the announcement of China’s import ban on Taiwanese pineapples, the orders are flooding in from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and South Korea, with the help of the Taiwan government’s freight aid. Taiwanese pineapples are set to compete with Philippine pineapples. The pineapple season in Taiwan starts from March to July, and the orders are flooding in before it reaches peak season and some of the packhouses are short of pineapple to sell, causing the price to increase slightly in the second week of March of 2021.

Korean buyers are interested in Taiwanese pineapples, according to local sources. There are currently two 40 ft. containers in transit, waiting to arrive in Busan. One of the containers will be going to a premium supermarket in South Korea.

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