Del Monte Offers Luxury Pineapple At $400 Apiece

The Rubyglow pineapple — bred for its distinctive red exterior and sweetness — costs $395.99 at Melissa’s Produce, a California-based seller of specialty fruit and veggies.

It took Del Monte a decade-and-a-half to develop the red-hued Rubyglow pineapple. I Photo: Business Wire

It took Del Monte, a wholesaler specializing in pineapple, a decade-and-a-half to develop the red-hued fruit, Danielle Wiener-Bronner reported for CNN.

A limited crop was first available in China early this year. Recently, Del Monte decided to see how the item would fare in the United States, and Melissa’s started selling it at an astronomical price.

There’s interest in premium fruit — enough to convince Del Monte to bring the Rubyglow, which is grown in Costa Rica, stateside.

“Consumers are willing to pay for something that’s special,” said Cindy van Rijswick, fresh produce strategist for Rabobank’s global research team. When it comes to specialty produce, “there’s always a small market for higher-end restaurants, or foodies, or certain online channels,” she said.

Americans have become particularly interested in new fruit varieties in recent years, paying a premium for Honeycrisp apples, Cotton Candy grapes, Sumo Citrus, and vertically-grown Japanese strawberries.

Now, they are hungry for different types of fruit and are ready to shell out for exciting new options.

Marketing new produce is a costly affair. Researchers have to breed and cross-breed, wait out the growing cycle, and start over if the fruit disappoints. Finding something that is both delicious and resilient enough to be commercially successful takes time and a lot of painstaking work.

Plant scientists have to convince growers to make an investment in an unproven fruit, devoting resources that could be used for old favorites.