The seasonality of fruits can be irritating. One month you are eating blueberries for $2 a punnet, a month later the season has changed and that same punnet costs $6. This dramatic increase can make it difficult to plan our fruit consumption but things could be worse. The blueberry and other fruits that face this dramatic increase in price are still generally affordable (although maybe more as a treat and not as a morning routine) but there are fruits that are so expensive we can only dream about eating them. For example, the most expensive fruit in the world; the pineapple.
An Amazing Pineapple
I know, I know you bought a pineapple recently for a few dollars. Not ALL pineapples are so expensive but there is one particular type of pineapple that could cost you up to US$16,000. That better be one amazing pineapple!
The reason is due to the method of production. In the Lost Gardens of Heligan in the UK pineapples are made using traditional methods with mud structures. The method allows pineapples to be grown outside tropical climates.
In the old days when pineapples were first discovered by explorers, they were brought home to colder climates in Europe and people loved them and would pay incredible prices for them. In fact, pineapples became a symbol of wealth and status if you could afford them. They reached such a high price that people tried to grow them in the colder climates. How did they succeed? Manure!
Growers built structures of mud and used manure to heat the pineapple growing area. Although fear not the manure didn’t come in contact with the pineapple it just made the area hot enough. This process is being recreated today in the Lost Gardens and the process takes two years and considerable effort to successfully produce them.
While you can’t actually buy these pineapples in a market, it is estimated if they were to go for auction they would reach around US$16,000. One for the bucket list!
