Pineapple prices boom as SA's home brewers work around booze ban

Here’s what SA’s pineapple industry knows for sure: when the government bans the sale and distribution of alcohol, the nation’s enterprising home brewers cause a spike in the pineapple price.

In the week leading up to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s July 12 announcement that alcohol sales and distribution would be suspended with immediate effect, the average price which retailers paid for a box of 10 pineapples at the country’s municipal fresh produce markets, and directly from farmers, was R80.

On Monday July 13, the morning after the president’s shock announcement, that price shot up to R120. And by last Friday it was around R200, according to Food Lover's Market national head of buying Vito Polera.“There is definitely a shortage of pineapples in the market at the moment and it is quite challenging to meet the demand,” said Polera.

Food Lover's Market spokesperson Mirella Gastaldi said while the price of fresh produce on the municipal fresh produce markets can fluctuate significantly due a variety of market-related factors, “given the significant increase in the cost price of pineapples since July 13, we can only surmise that the president’s announcement of an immediate ban on the sale of alcohol has had an influence on the cost price of pineapples”.

“We have been advised, anecdotally, that the increase in the demand for pineapples is linked to the public using pineapples to make home-brewed pineapple beer during the alcohol sale prohibition,” added Gastaldi.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

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