Is there a pineapple shortage?

[clean]

My local grocery store chain has been out of pineapple for 2 weeks. I asked and they said that the warehouse has been out.
Do you have fresh pineapple in your area?
Anyone know if there is a systematic issue?

Would the writer's strike or Actor's strike have an impact?  Do actors or writers pick pineapple in their 'other job'  and would that be covered by their strike?

Have interest rates (that damn Fed!) changed the relative value of pineapple shipping?

Did the weather (record heat/storms/drought/earthquakes) disrupt picking/growing?

What is up?  ('conspiracy theories' are welcome)

[dismalist]

Weather and other stuff has diminished the crop in Costa Rica, a main supplier to the US. But it's a worldwide phenomenon, due to weather, noticeable since December.

However, I get very suspicious if something is not on the shelves. If the store raised price enough, it could pay the producers more to get some product, and one would see the product on the shelves. Therefore, there must be a barrier to raising prices sufficiently. It's probably fear, justified  fear, of getting nailed by an anti-gouging law. These vary by state, and the feds have threatened to invoke anti-trust policy against price gougers.

Of course, it could be that the grocery doesn't think a sufficient number can be sold.

Thus, we can pay a lot to get a commodity or pay less to not get it. :-)

My Safeway's in Northern Virginia has pineapples at $2.49 each. I do not know whether that's a lot or a little.

If a fresh fruit I liked were not available, I'd use the canned variety, if it exists and is still available, for the canned variety would be subject to the same constraints as the fresh variety with a lag.

[apl68]

Had some of the best fresh pineapple I've ever had at an Asian buffet place just the other day when I was out of town.  They seemed able to lay it on as always.

[Hibush]

Volume out of Costa Rica and Ecuador pretty steady. Retail prices slighly lower over the last six weeks. Boats arriving at most ports of entry consistently.

[clean]

I went to Walmart today in search for pineapples. 
None there either!  I asked and they said that they had not had them in over a week.  They mentioned that another searching customer mentioned that the primary local grocery chain was also out! 

So SOMETHING is conspiring to take pineapple from my table! 
(And I have been using it to help me lose weight.  Better to eat pineapple at night than be tempted by candy, cake or ice cream!  ... Anything to help reduce my Bulk Tonnage!)

[lightning]

My Safeway's in Northern Virginia has pineapples at $2.49 each. I do not know whether that's a lot or a little.

That's very inexpensive!

[apl68]

My Safeway's in Northern Virginia has pineapples at $2.49 each. I do not know whether that's a lot or a little.

That's very inexpensive!

Maybe they've all somehow been routed to Northern Virginia?

[jimbogumbo]

I think dismalist is buying huge amounts to attempt to corner the market.

[dismalist]

I think dismalist is buying huge amounts to attempt to corner the market.

If I were certain that the price controls were binding, I could try to buy canned pineapple, and hoard it until the control regime were abolished. Then I could indeed sell at a high price. :-)

But those who tell me above that local pineapple prices confronting me are low does suggest that product is being shipped to where people are willing to pay and buy. Here in Northern Virginia we have a multitude of filthy rich lobbyists who are sustaining the pineapple market, and many other markets as well. If true, lack of pineapples is a poverty pocket problem, a food desert problem.

They can be bought on-line, though, I have learned.

I now check the local Safeway's website almost every day for pineapple prices. It's like checking the stock ticker! :-)

[dismalist]

Most important, here is Lotte Lenya singing the pineapple song from Cabaret

Pineapple Song

[pink_]

I have nothing to add about the supply or demand of pineapples.
But this is a fun thread, so thanks!

[jimbogumbo]

I think dismalist is buying huge amounts to attempt to corner the market.

If I were certain that the price controls were binding, I could try to buy canned pineapple, and hoard it until the control regime were abolished. Then I could indeed sell at a high price. :-)

Exactly what a possible market cornerer would say.

[clean]

Everybody is getting pineapples but me (my area of the state anyway)!
They even sing about it!!

[Hibush]

Did the pineapples sell out for International Pineapple Day on June 27, and then disappear from Clean's shelves after that?

[dismalist]

Did the pineapples sell out for International Pineapple Day on June 27, and then disappear from Clean's shelves after that?

Oh my god, we've got to seasonally adjust everything!