I’ve had the Pinkglow $50 (or…$8 on discount) pineapple, the Dole Limited Selection Gold Pineapple, an automated machine-cut pineapple from Edeka in Berlin, and baby pineapples (that seem like more work than they’re worth) from the specialty section.
Our quest to try the world’s fanciest pineapple continues with a new contender: an Azorean pineapple, complete with its own box and serial number.
My husband picked one up from H-E-B’s Central Market in Austin during the company’s Passporte to Portugal. The price tag was steep — $15 – but the experience was worth it.
Central Market billed it as “the sweetest pineapple you’ll ever taste,” and they were absolutely right.
These pineapples have an oddly tiny crown, take two years to mature, and can only be grown in greenhouses in the Azores. And, fun fact, they’re so tender you’re supposed to be able to eat the core. I suppose that helps offset the cost a little. One of my sons had no problem eating the core, the other was not so convinced.
Would I buy something like this as a regular part of my grocery trip? Absolutely not.
But I, like many Americans, am looking for fun ways to splurge that aren’t took crazy out there. According to recent research by 210 Analytics presented to the Southeast Produce Council, 41 percent of Americans surveyed are willing to splurge a little in the grocery store “to do something nice for myself/family/friends.”
Central Market, in my experience, is an expert at encouraging its shoppers to try something new just for the experience. It’s the same place we saw $60 strawberries, after all.
In the same study, 30 percent of respondents said they’d be willing to splurge a little if they’re “replacing a restaurant meal that would have cost more.”
I’d argue that a $15 pineapple is certainly a better deal than a trip to Dairy Queen.
