Pineapple

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storewanderer
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Pineapple

Post by storewanderer »

Anyone remember about 20 years ago when most of the canned pineapple (at least out west) in most of the private labels was all stamped as 100% Hawaiian on the can lids? Then that went away, supposedly because many of the pineapple growing areas in Hawaii were cut out in favor of tourist developments.

I buy fresh pineapple from time to time with mixed results (the ones I got last month from Smiths which looked really good, from I'm not sure where, were just not good- had some juice, but general lacking of flavor and sour, probably picked too soon), and haven't seen one from Hawaii in years.

Yesterday I got a fresh pineapple that was from Hawaii. Again, first I've seen one in years. This was tagged as a Dole pineapple with some sort of Disney character on the label. First, the thing was bigger than what I have been getting lately, weighed at least 5 pounds. The flavor and juice level in this pineapple was excellent, far better than what I have been getting lately.

So if anyone likes pineapple, be on the look out for those that are from Hawaii at this time, as they are out there in at least some stores. Probably more luck at smaller chains.
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Re: Pineapple

Post by Alpha8472 »

Most pineapples come from Central and South America. The rest comes mostly from Asia. Only a small percentage of them come from Hawaii. That is about 13 percent. The costs of growing them in Hawaii led to most of the plantations closing down.

It is the high cost of growing in Hawaii that makes their pineapples rare. The Hawaiian variety is known to be one of the best tasting and of the highest quality. The ones from other countries are very inconsistent and bred for cheapness.
storewanderer
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Re: Pineapple

Post by storewanderer »

So these Dole Disney Tags are on various pineapples. I went back to purchase again today, and in the display were Dole Disney Tags on other "Tropical Pineapple" but those were product of Costa Rica.

These Dole Disney Tags are a bit larger pineapples, have softer leafs on top, and say on the tag "Royal Hawaiian Pineapple."

I see Dole will sell you these online. https://www.dolefruithawaii.com/Fresh_F ... i_s/22.htm

I think the 1.99 each I got them for was a much better deal.
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Re: Pineapple

Post by Bagels »

Dole and Del Monte began “moving” its pineapple acreage from Hawaii to Central America beginning in the 1980s. Even before NAFTA was signed, Dole had rapidly shrunk its Hawaii footprint. It had largely ceased exporting the fruit by the late 1990s (what it grows at the Dole Plantation is intended for consumption within Hawaii). Del Monte continued to shrink production before ending it entirely in the late 2000s. Shortly afterward, the company that created and sold the Maui Gold variety went out of business, although the brand has been brought back to life a couple times. I’ve seen it sold at Pavilions, although be warned the last time it said it was from Costa Rica.
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Re: Pineapple

Post by SamSpade »

Del Monte Gold was available at Albertsons yesterday, canned was from somewhere other than Hawaii that I can't recall right now (not Costa Rica, not Philippines I don't believe). The Signature Select and Dole were from the Philippines.

Fresh pineapple was Del Monte and from Costa Rica. Our pineapple was a lot more expensive than yours, StoreWanderer!
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Re: Pineapple

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: January 4th, 2021, 11:28 am Del Monte Gold was available at Albertsons yesterday, canned was from somewhere other than Hawaii that I can't recall right now (not Costa Rica, not Philippines I don't believe). The Signature Select and Dole were from the Philippines.

Fresh pineapple was Del Monte and from Costa Rica. Our pineapple was a lot more expensive than yours, StoreWanderer!
The 1.99 was a sale price, the regular price said 3.99. This is a very low volume store and the display was small but there was a pineapple smell when passing, even with less than 10 of them on the display.

Smiths had pineapples (much smaller ones not from Hawaii) for .99 back around Thanksgiving. They weren't great... passable. They looked great and they had a ton available. I think their regular price may have been 3.99.
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Re: Pineapple

Post by Bagels »

Over Thanksgiving, Albertsons had huge pineapples for 88c each (in both SoCal as well as Las Vegas). Really good deal!
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Re: Pineapple

Post by BillyGr »

Price Chopper up here in NY had them for $1.49 a couple weeks back - no clue as to what they were or where from, though.

Are these one of those fruit/veggie items that have a "season" that occurs in different spots?

One I notice like that is Asparagus - usually fairly high priced, but a few times during the year it will be cheap for a couple weeks, often in all three stores at the same time, which makes it seem like a particular area of the world is harvesting a large amount during those times.
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Re: Pineapple

Post by Bagels »

BillyGr wrote: January 5th, 2021, 12:35 pm Price Chopper up here in NY had them for $1.49 a couple weeks back - no clue as to what they were or where from, though.

Are these one of those fruit/veggie items that have a "season" that occurs in different spots?

One I notice like that is Asparagus - usually fairly high priced, but a few times during the year it will be cheap for a couple weeks, often in all three stores at the same time, which makes it seem like a particular area of the world is harvesting a large amount during those times.
I’ve noticed that historically, Pineapple is typical at its lowest price point around most holidays. But here in SoCal, it’s been extremely cheap in recent years: Aldi frequently has medium on special for $1-$2, Walmart has had them for about $2 every day, Food4Less frequently sells them 3 lb. for $1, etc.

Asparagus is generally cheapest during the spring, which is peak growing season. Most Asparagus comes from Mexico and Peru these days — you’ll pay a premium for US-grown stuff, especially California. Here in SoCal, you can buy a pound of fresh asparagus for $1 nearly year round at 99 Cents Only, although it’s the reject stuff (re: small).
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Re: Pineapple

Post by buckguy »

When I lived in SE Asia, fresh pineapple from non-plantations had a definite harvest season which lasted for about a month and this was always the best pineapple (better than anything you will ever find in a store here). Still there were plantations where it was grown for the juice trade and provided a lower grade year round crop for the marketplace (still better than most fresh that's imported to the US). The juice generally comes from southern Thailand. The crushed pineapple from the Philippines.

BillyGr wrote: January 5th, 2021, 12:35 pm Price Chopper up here in NY had them for $1.49 a couple weeks back - no clue as to what they were or where from, though.

Are these one of those fruit/veggie items that have a "season" that occurs in different spots?

One I notice like that is Asparagus - usually fairly high priced, but a few times during the year it will be cheap for a couple weeks, often in all three stores at the same time, which makes it seem like a particular area of the world is harvesting a large amount during those times.
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