Asia drives continued rise in global demand for pineapple

Worldwide demand for pineapples continued to increase between 2009 and 2016 and is the fastest growing fruit for the UK’s largest retailer, Tesco. According to market researcher IndexBox, the international wholesale market for the tropical fruit reached US$14.9 billion in 2016. Since 2009, the pineapple market has seen an average annual growth of 3.3%, although in 2017, this growth slowed somewhat. The growing demand, especially in Asia, means that the segment’s value is only likely to increase further, with the strongest consumption growth being seen in China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and the Philippines. The same trend is likely to occur in Latin America as living standards rise across the continent with population increases and consumer trends shifting towards adopting more healthy lifestyles. There is also an increasing demand for canned pineapples worldwide, especially in the Philippines, Indonesia and China. The forecast for the coming years is for the segment’s growth to be 2.9% between 2016 and 2025, to reach volumes of 34.2 million tons.

Brazil is the world’s largest pineapple consumer, consuming 11% of the world’s supply, followed by the Philippines and Indonesia (8% each), India (7%); China (6%); Nigeria and Thailand (5% each); and Costa Rica and the US (4% each). Ghana recorded the fastest growth in pineapple demand between 2007 and 2016 (38.4%), followed by Angola (28.3%). the Dominican Republic (23.4%) and Costa Rica (22%). Highest annual per capita consumption was recorded in Costa Rica (242 kg), Angola (31.1 kg), the Philippines (21.2 kg) and Thailand (20.6 kg per year).

In line with the growth trend of the past nine years, global pineapple production rose to 26.9 million tons in 2016. The world’s biggest producer, Costa Rica, accounted for 12% of total production in 2016 (3.2 million tons), followed by Brazil and the Philippines (10% each), Indonesia (8%), India (7%), and China and Nigeria (6% each).