Pineapple price drop unrelated to imports, farmers say expanded planting and weather led to concentrated bumper harvest
The domestic pineapple season is concentrated from March to July. This year, due to weather factors, domestic production increased significantly, leading to a price drop. Amid the domestic pineapple bumper harvest, word spread that supermarkets were selling imported fresh pineapples, drawing outside skepticism. However, according to the Council of Agriculture's agricultural statistics, from January to March this year, a total of 407 metric tons of fresh pineapples were imported, with no imports after March.
Imported pineapples have always been subject to tariff quota restrictions, but the import period is staggered from the domestic production season. According to this year's regulations, for pineapples from January to the end of March, the tariff quota is 11,870 tons; from August to the end of December, the tariff quota is 12,000 tons.
Domestic hypermarket Aima and fresh supermarket PX Mart both stated that they currently do not sell imported fresh pineapples. He Bingyang, chairman of the Longtan Fruit and Vegetable Production Cooperative in Pingtung County, said that during the domestic pineapple peak season, prices are lower, making imported pineapples unprofitable. Su Maoxiang, deputy director of the Agriculture and Food Agency, also explained that imports are not price-competitive right now. Taiwan's pineapples are cheap and good quality, so imports mostly occur during the off-season gap in domestic pineapple supply.
Domestic pineapples have both ends intact, imported pineapples have both ends removed
So why are there rumors of imported pineapples now? He Bingyang pointed out that imported pineapples mostly come from the Philippines and Thailand, with the Philippine variety being MD2, and some domestic farmers also grow this variety. "It should be the MD2 variety grown by domestic farmers that has been mistaken for the Philippine variety."
How to tell the difference? He explained that fresh pineapples imported from abroad must undergo quarantine, so both ends are removed, while Taiwan's pineapples keep both ends. Su Maoxiang said that generally when people buy pineapples at traditional markets for worship needs, so imported pineapples with both ends removed have limited sales channels and are mostly sold at hypermarkets.
Speaking of the differences between Golden Diamond pineapple, which accounts for 90% of domestic cultivation, and the MD2 variety, He Bingyang explained that Golden Diamond pineapple has better sweetness and aroma quality; the MD2 variety has coarser fiber but more stable quality when facing climate change.
