The Luxe Fruit Revolution

Melissa’s Produce, a purveyor of all things from truffles to mangosteen to kumquats, describes its latest offering, the Rubyglow pineapple, as a “rare gem” and the “pinnacle of luxury fruit” on its website, adding that, for food connoisseurs, it is an “unforgettable gift.”

Americans, and later the world, including Vietnam, have shown a particular interest in novel fruits in recent years. Consumers have been paying a premium for Honeycrisp apples, Cotton Candy grapes, Sumo Citrus, and Japanese Oishii strawberries. Now, they are craving different fruits and are willing to spend on exciting new options.

It took a decade and a half to develop this uniquely red fruit, described as sweet as honey, and it is priced at $395.99 at Melissa’s Produce, a California-based specialty fruit and vegetable retailer. The Rubyglow pineapple is a hybrid, and the first harvest was earlier this year. However, the timing seems less than ideal for marketing a very expensive fruit in the US, where consumers are still worried about inflation and unemployment rates.

According to Food & Wine magazine, soaring grocery prices have made headlines, stressing consumers and tightening their budgets. Robert Schueller, the director of public relations at Melissa’s Produce, says Melissa started with a batch of 50 Rubyglow pineapples. So far, they have sold about half in a month, including to restaurants in Las Vegas and Southern California.

“Consumers are willing to pay for something special,” says Cindy van Rijswick, a fresh produce strategist at Rabobank Group’s global research team. When it comes to specialty produce, “there’s always a small market for high-end restaurants, connoisseurs, or certain online channels.” However, marketing a new product is an expensive endeavor. Researchers have to breed and hybridize, wait for the growth cycle, and start over if the fruit doesn’t make the cut.

Finding something that is both delicious and resilient enough to succeed commercially takes time and a lot of effort. Then, plant scientists must convince growers to invest in an unproven fruit, diverting resources that could have been used for more established favorites.

For instance, when the Honeycrisp apple was introduced over 30 years ago, there wasn’t much variety in the apple section of supermarkets. Jim Luby, a professor of horticultural science at the University of Minnesota, recalls: “Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and, in some regions, McIntosh were the common apples. If you didn’t go to an orchard, you didn’t have many choices.” People craved more, and Honeycrisp fit the bill—sweet, crisp, and novel. Luby, a member of the team that developed this variety, says, “There weren’t many growers, so it was priced high. Yet it always sold out.”

Since the success of this high-quality apple, diversity in the produce aisle has increased. According to Rabobank, over the past decade, the per capita supply of higher-priced fruits, such as berries, or tropical fruits like dragon fruit, lychees, mangoes, and avocados, has increased, based on USDA data. During this time, the supply of less expensive fruits like apples and bananas has remained largely unchanged, while some specialty fruits have become more popular.

Cotton Candy grapes, named for their candy-like sweetness, debuted in 2011 and quickly gained popularity. Sumo Citrus, a hybrid between a pomelo and an orange, had a later start but has boomed in recent years. Oishii’s specialty strawberries, grown in temperature-controlled greenhouses, first hit the market in 2018 at $50 for a box of eight.

For this Japanese fruit company, each berry is packaged in exquisite boxes that showcase each individual strawberry, much like a box of handcrafted chocolates. “Even at $50, we still consistently have thousands of people on our waitlist,” says Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga.

The pineapple market is no different. Del Monte researchers have been creating various pineapple hybrids for years, “nurturing” their appearance and optimizing their flavor. In 2020, the company released the adorable and giftable Pinkglow pineapple, with pink flesh and special individual packaging. Initially, the Pinkglow sold for around $50. Today, you can buy one for much less, ranging from $8 to $29—a relative bargain but still exorbitant for a pineapple.

“I think a lot of people would say a $400 pineapple is not worth it, but there will be a group of people who will be willing to pay for it, if not for the taste, then for the stunning appearance,” says Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, associate director of Mintel Food & Drink. “I think for the upcoming Christmas, Thanksgiving—you will see this pink pineapple as a centerpiece, especially in an affluent household,” she says. “In other words, people will pay to show off that they have something special.”