After 90 years in the islands, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. says it will cease pineapple operations in Hawaii in a little more than two years.
Del Monte said it was no longer economically feasible to grow pineapple in Hawaii because it can be produced for less in other parts of the world.
“It would be cheaper for Del Monte to buy pineapples on the open market than for the company to grow, market and distribute Hawaiian pineapple,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.
Last year, Hawaii produced 212,000 tons of pineapples worth an estimated $79 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Worldwide, the top pineapple producers are Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil, China, India and Costa Rica, according to a USDA report.
“I think that American workers everywhere, literally from Hawaii to Maine to Texas to Michigan, are vulnerable to outsourcing, and that’s really what this is about,” said Hanan Kolko, a New York labor lawyer.
I didn’t see anything about where Del Monte will be going. Will they continue just as a marketing company? Will they buy someone out in India? They’ve been in Hawaii since 1916.
I wonder if this is more because of real estate prices and real estate taxes rather than the actual cost of growing pineapple.
Sure, you’ll pay more for labor in Hawaii than say Costa Rica, but fertilizer, pesticide and equipment costs should be fairly comparable.
I’m sure Del Monte looked at the market value of their land and said, “Hey, we can make more money by selling the land and buying pineapples.”
G
Sure, you’ll pay more for labor in Hawaii than say Costa Rica, but fertilizer, pesticide and equipment costs should be fairly comparable.
But are those items available locally, or do they need to be shipped out to the islands?
This reminds me of Dole getting out of Lanai, which used to be one, big pineapple field [or looked that way, while flying over it in the 80’s]
From Frommer’s:
“Harry Baldwin, a missionary’s grandson, was the first to do well for himself. He bought Lanai for $588,000 in 1917, developed a 20-mile water pipeline between Koele and Manele, and sold the island 5 years later to Jim Dole for $1.1 million.
Dole planted and irrigated 18,000 acres of pineapple, built Lanai City, blasted out a harbor, and turned the island into a fancy fruit plantation. For a half-century, he enjoyed great success. Even Dole was ultimately vanquished, however; cheaper pineapple production in Asia brought an end to Lanai’s heyday.”
And that it is Frommer’s tourist guide I use as an example backs-up your idea that there is more money to be made off rich tourists than pineapples.
As per:
http://www.adventurelanai.com/
Maybe they couldn’t get enough subsidies.