Pineapple monthly review: October 2022

The tensions felt on the pineapple market in late September were confirmed in October, and indeed deteriorated. In the first half of the month, the increasingly lukewarm demand found it harder to absorb the available supply, albeit levels were not that high. The Costa Rican supply, unbalanced and of fairly heterogeneous quality, found it increasingly tough to sell. So rates underwent a slow but steady fall, in the hope of getting the market moving. This fall had no effect on demand, which remained flat, affected by the All Saints’ public holiday, especially since the African supply was distinctly bigger than forecast in the second half of the month (more than double the volumes usually received). So it was difficult to talk about a “market price”, given the sheer quantity of poor sales, which even affected fruit from established brands. The fairly stressful atmosphere, due to the fear of falling purchasing power, did not augur well at all for the coming weeks.

The situation was mainly stable on the air-freight pineapple market, since the overall supply remained small throughout the month. The Cayenne supply from Benin and Cameroon, affected by the rains, lacked coloration and homogeneity, which contributed to limiting availability a bit further. Sugarloaf sales were steadier, with coloured fruit earning better value. The cost increases, greater for the Costa Rican Sweet supply, were passed downstream, which meant that the volumes of this variety on the market were slightly reduced. The start of the All Saints’ public holiday also affected demand on the air-freight market, which went a bit quieter until the end of the month.

The hitherto limited Victoria supply saw a distinct rise, especially from Reunion. The island’s supply, though fairly imbalanced with size 8 in the majority, did sell well. The increase in the overall supply did not lead to a withdrawal by South Africa, which remained present with its still-limited volumes.

pineapple - france - import price october 2022