to think some things not right about 50p pineapples from south america in UK supermarkets?

[MarieNE]

I don't get how they can be sold so cheaply when they come from across the world and they don't grow abudently like say apples on a tree. I thought each plant only produces one fruit? They were not this cheap in Peru, although were alot better quality!

Taken from the Telegraph. Suppliers aren't suffering.
One importer told the magazine that tropical fruits had been one of the big losers in the recession as consumer shied away from the high price tags. But he said that promotions had been a mixed blessing for suppliers.

High promotional activity in recent months had brought new consumers into the category although it had not persuaded existing shoppers to buy more. He said the danger was that the category could become permanently devalued if supermarkets discounted for a prolonged period.

" Prices have collapsed quite rapidly but volumes have gone through the roof " he said. " The category has been stimulated by the promotions but we have to reserve judgement on whether this is a good thing and see if the market can sustain these volumes in six months' time."

The report says that high promotional levels are expected to continue over the next two months as the Costa Rican peak season brings more fruit on to the market.

Although promotions put some pressure on growers, retailers generally took the brunt, said Clive Marriott, commercial manager at Fairtrade importer Agrofair. He said: " It's a similar situation as when Asda messed with the banana price. It might drive some short-term gain but generally I find this approach daft."

www.fintrac.com/cpanelx_pu/tapp/13_41_99_TAPP%20-%20Pineapple%20Market%20Survey.pdf
Apparently it is recommended that they are shipped rather than air freighted
It's peak season for Asia supply, but if there is an early crop from South America it can crash the market price
One pineapple per plant
75% of European consumption comes through the big supermarkets, who buy from conglomerates.

So the question is - are the major agro-multinationals; Dole Food Company, Del Monte Foods, Fyffes and Chiquita (CBI Market Survey: EU Market for Pineapple, 2009) paying a fair price?

I think the hungry family is the one in the uk.......

my arse: there are 1 billion people in the world with not enough food to eat.

Pineapples are cheap in all the supermarkets at the moment - my assumption was that there is a glut so they're shifting volume.

Is odd though that a pineapple was less than a single Pink Lady apple last week. Or a bunch of rhubarb (local and in season).

"the solution is to have more supermarkets chains"

The solution is for the sellers to organise, cooperate, form large selling groups, set high standards, and stand firm in the face of unreasonable expectations.

FWIW it's rapidly turning into a sellers' market at the moment with the rise of Chinese consumerism. Millions of Chinese people are becoming more affluent and they are no longer content with locally produced food. Chinese buyers are all over the world buying up vast quantities of every kind of foodstuff at very good prices meaning that the European supermarkets are having to match the prices or lose out. One of several reasons why the weekly shop is costing more each week.

So enjoy that 50p pineapple because that kind of offer is likely to be much less common in future.

The very worst is cut flowers. No necessity in them and a ridiculous amount of harm.

Right, my point was, I don't think anyone thinks that buying a 50p pineapple is helping a poor Costa Rican ( though it might be better than not being able to sell the crop at all- who knows) But having pineapples for sale for 50p is definitely making fresh fruit more accessible to families struggling with food budgets in the uk.

I guess if supermarkets are going to do loss leaders, then some of them should be fruit and veg not just more junk.

I like that sainsbury's do all fairtrade bananas, at decent prices. Could do with more of that.

Also bear in mind that pineapples can only be grown cheaply in quantity by clearing great areas of rain forest, with destruction of native flora and fauna.

Right, my point was, I don't think anyone thinks that buying a 50p pineapple is helping a poor Costa Rican ( though it might be better than not being able to sell the crop at all- who knows) But having pineapples for sale for 50p is definitely making fresh fruit more accessible to families struggling with food budgets in the uk.

Put so much more succinctly than me, but this is exactly what I was getting at.

is it just me, but this thread makes me feel about 100! I grew up in the 70's and think of a pineapple as exotic. i only buy organic/fairtrade as so rarely want to £4 for a pineapple. however the bananas and apples are much more reasonably priced and I can buy them knowing the worker has not been exploited.

I guess if someone sees pineapples as normal fruit the expectation is they can afford them.

Pineapples are a lot less exotic than they used to be, along with a lot of other stuff .... sweet potatoes & avocados for example, or satsumas available at times of the year other than Christmas. :) Varieties of al kinds of things have improved, the storage is better, less prone to diseases & the growing technology produces better yields so many fruit/veg lines are more accessible & cheaper than ever before. There's a standard whine of 'healthy food is too expensive'... but prices for fruit and veg have been very flat for about 15 years now. Predicted to rise soon but relatively cheap today.

oh dear, I would appear that I am in fact very very very old and out of touch with the modern world.

i brought a pineapple for £1 the other day... because it was cheap and my dc had never had it "fresh"

like other have said it could be for numorouse reasons.. or could just be to get people buying then they'll hike the prices up again.

The whole issue of food and cost here on mn gives me the bloody rage !
I got slammed for despairing at the cost of feeding my family of five -two on severely restricted diets . We mainly eat organic and fair trade . The bills are huge - huge I tell ya !

So one day on mn its buy cheap , next day it's buy ethical !

me, one little person, not buying an item makes no difference. If we all looked at food miles then we could make a difference.

I just wish we were allowed decent produce such as that available in continental Europe. Tomatoes that taste of something, fruit and veg that may not all look the same but actually has flavour.

but no, we are deemed dumb and only offered identical, flavourless abominations.

I'm off to talk to the tomato plants. :-)

You, one little person makes ALL the difference actually.

It is only when we realise that every action we make, every choice we make as a consumer has a marked impact on the rest of the world that things will actually change.

If you can afford it that is .

I agree nomore that the choices we make are important and do make a difference.

across your life time you buy a lot of food. and people on lower incomes have fewer, harder choices, but very few people in the UK have no choice. thb I often think it is used as an excuse for doing what someone wants to do as how wants to face up to their {food item} being harvested by people so poor we cannot imagine their lives.

NigellasDealer this country cannot feed itself and "buy British" is impossible in respect of food. Many of the things we all eat - such as rice - don't grow in our climate.

It seems that the lessons of free trade have to be learnt again I'm every generation!

In every generation, damn it!

I found this "Currently, Britain imports more than 40% of its food compared to 25% twenty years ago, an increase of 15%. In 2030, one meal out of two will come from food imports."

I really don't want us to be dependant on food imports (other than trade to swap what we can grow for what we cannot.

If there is a glut of a perishable food, you just have to get what you can for it.