Pineapple production in Central America is affected by extreme weather conditions. The result is low availability and lower quality than expected. Paolo Bernardi, a long-time vendor at the Bologna market, takes stock of the situation at the Cazzola stand: "We are in a very serious situation that has been going on for at least two months. And there is no sign of it improving in the short term."
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Only a small amount of product arrives by ship, and at high prices. "Most of the time we are forced to have disputes because unfortunately the pineapples do not hold up well. Some are imported by air, but at prohibitive costs. A negative aspect of this situation is that customers don't even ask us anymore, and they are dissatisfied with the product."
As for prices, if there were flawless batches of pineapples, you could charge whatever you wanted. But that is not the case because there is very little of high quality. "Wholesalers would pay up to 18-20 euros per carton, but the problem is that it is almost impossible to get consistent quality at the moment because of the constant bad weather in the production areas. For the product shipped by air, the price has even reached 40 euros per carton: these pineapples have the advantage of a longer shelf life."
Even the catering sector, which has always been a major consumer of pineapples, is in crisis and is having to switch to other products. Nothing will change in the short term," concludes Bernardi, "and we will continue to navigate by sight."
For more information:
F.lli Cazzola