CONSUMERS are being urged to buy extra pineapples over Christmas with fears a surplus of the fruit will be left to rot after unseasonal weather caused early season ripening.
Extreme weather kicking off the first quarter of 2022 and continuing throughout the year has triggered ‘mass natural flowering’, resulting in a mass amount of undersized crop ready for harvest, yet unsuitable for sale.
Tropical Pines general manager Anthony Dobson said as a result of the ‘one-in-50 years’ weather events at the beginning of the year, farmers will face financial hardship for the next 12 to 18 months, with many predicting a 60-90% loss of crops this summer if consumers don’t rally behind the industry.
“Mother Nature has thrown a curve ball that could push some Queensland pineapple farmers out of business for good,” said Anthony.
“Premature flowering also means only half of about 6,000,000 pineapples harvested in the first quarter of 2023 will be of a suitable size for sale, with the remaining 6,000,000 pineapples to be harvested between April and December.”
Pineapple crops are planted throughout the year, with staggered harvest times allowing for a continuity of supply throughout all seasons of the year. However, this year has seen up to 70% of crops flowering all at once meaning not only are producers currently experiencing an oversupply, but future months will see a supply slump of the beloved fruit.
Even factoring in a 50% loss of undersized crops, Anthony estimates a record supply of 2,446,500 high-grade pineapples in January-February 2023, equating to 886,390 more pineapples going to market than the same period in 2022.
Second generation Beerwah pineapple farmer Ian Fullerton said he’s never experienced a more challenging situation than the current boom-and-bust crisis.
“This year’s extreme weather pattern is unheard of and with all the plants flowering early, we can’t possibly pick the full volume of fruit,” Ian said. “It will also be a challenge for customers to consume all the pineapples we can harvest in such a short period of time.
“But I reckon Aussies will give it a good crack – after all, when you taste a perfectly ripe and refreshing pineapple, you’ll always come back for more.”