Pineapple monthly review: November 2021

The trend started in October on the pineapple market became more marked and indeed deteriorated throughout November. From the beginning of the month, poor supermarket sales led to unsold volumes being transferred to the spot market. In a context of flat demand, we saw the formation of increasingly large stocks. Operators gradually launched into a downward price spiral which lasted until the end of the month, hoping to be able to clear their stocks in this way, especially with the fairly heterogeneous fruit quality. So there was no real market price to speak of, in an atmosphere that was genuinely everyone for themselves, and characterised by a proliferation of PSP transactions. The market conditions were hard for all the operators (across all brands), and at the end of the month, when the objective was to sell at any price, all eyes were focused on the start of December and the East European markets, in the hope that possible promotions organised for the St. Nicholas holiday might ease the pressure on the market.

 During the first half-month, demand on the air-freight market, still affected by the All Saints’ holidays, struggled to absorb those volumes that were placed. So several operators opted to considerably scale back their imports, to enable the market to regain some fluidity. Despite imports subsiding, demand, still just as flat, remained below the small volumes available. Operators had to resort to PSP transactions to finish certain batches. Demand for Sugarloaf, especially coloured, was steadier. Conversely, Cayenne batches increasingly struggled to capture purchasers’ interest. On the Sweet market, Ghanaian fruit was less sought-after than fruit from its Latin American competitors.

 The Victoria market went through a mixed trajectory, since the overall supply, although small, was fairly unbalanced, especially from Reunion. Size 8 and 9 fruit, available in higher quantities, had more of a struggle to find takers, although at the end of the month the paucity of the overall supply facilitated the sale of the available batches.

pineapple - france - import price november 2021