Since January this year, the price of pineapple in Thailand has continued to decline, and has now fallen to the lowest level in nearly four years.

 

This week, FOODNEWS sources revealed that the price of Thai raw pineapple is 4-4.5 baht per kilogram ($0.12-0.13). At the Cologne Anuga exhibition, a Thai food buyer said that the price was at its lowest level at $120.80 per ton (equivalent to 4,000 baht); another local trader said the price was "quite low and unsustainable" and expected to rise to $135.90 per ton (4,500 baht).

 

However, there are reports that many growers no longer invest in pineapple plantations. "The three years of rising pineapple prices were famine years, so farmers began to grow more crops. Now supply is restored, prices have reached normal levels, farmers no longer invest in pineapple plantations, which is normal in Thailand. Pineapple processing and production in Thailand is run by family businesses. One source explained.

 

The Thai Food Processing Association (TFPA) estimates that Thailand's pineapple production this year is close to 2 million tons. After routine equipment maintenance, the southern processing plant started construction this month. Eastern processing plants opened in September, when the average price of pineapple raw materials was $135-140 per ton.