Live in the Philippines

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Where do Pineapples come from?

Adjustment, Food/Drink / by

Well, now that I know better, it seems like a stupid question, but do you know where pineapples come from?

Pineapple is an important cash crop in the Philippines.  The two biggest pineapple companies in the world are big players here in the Philippines, Dole and Del Monte.  Each of these huge companies has it’s Philippine base of operations in Mindanao too, and I have visited each many times.

Dole Philippines grows most (but not all) of it’s Philippine grown Pineapples in Polomolok, South Cotabato, not far from General Santos City, where I used to live.  Dole is a big player in the GenSan area with a lot of influence, simply because it employs so many people in the area.

Del Monte grows most of it’s Philippine grown Pineapples in Bukidnon, mostly around the Manolo Fortich area.  We pass through there very often, whenever we are on our way from Davao to Cagayan de Oro City,or any points on that side of Mindanao.  I have written many times on this site about the steaks at the Del Monte Clubhouse at their golf course in Manolo Fortich.  The golf course is right in the middle of a huge pineapple plantation.

One time, when we were riding through the Polomolok area in South Cotabato, Feyma said something like, “oh, look at all the pineapples growing here.”  I responded, “what are you talking about, I don’t see any pineapples!”  Well, she pointed out that all of the plants growing on either side of the road were pineapple plants.

My response was a classic:

Huh?  I thought pineapples grew on trees?

Well, I was quite wrong, and feel a bit stupid about it now.

As you can see in the photo to the left, which I took at the Del Monte Plantation in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, pineapples certainly do not grow on trees, they grow on these small plants that you see here.  There are different varieties of pineapple plants.  The ones that Dole grows do not have the red stripe on the branches as you see in these, they are purely green.  But, either of the two varieties (and there are many more varieties) taste delicious.

I remember the pineapples in the States, most of which are Hawaiian pineapples.  They had a certain sour taste to them, or a tartness.  This is because they are picked green so that they don’t spoil in transport to the stores on the mainland of the USA.  The pineapple here simply has no tartness, it is pure sweetness.  The first time I tasted a freshly picked pineapple like this, I was quite surprised and grew a certain fondness for the fruit that has continued through the years.

Here in Mindanao, because both of these world consumed varieties of pineapples are grown here, there is sort of a rivalry.  It comes down to this:  do you like Dole or Del Monte?  Well, having lived in GenSan, I used to be a Dole fanatic, but now I tend to like Del Monte pineapples better.  I’ll certainly eat either one of them, though, without complaints!

How about you?  Did you know that pineapples grew on small plants like this, or were you like me, thinking they grew on trees?  A lot of foreigners that I have met here have been surprised when I told them that pineapples do not grow on trees, so I know that I am not alone in my ignorance on this topic!

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Announcement: Because it is Holy Week, my regularly scheduled Thursday morning coffee session will not take place this week.  I will be back next week though for those who wish to get together for coffee.

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Comments

  1. Bob,

    That's what you think…it came from a plant?

    LOL

    There's a filipino belief where pineapple originated from. They know it didn't originally came from a plant…hehehe

    Search this –> The Legend of the Pineapple Fruit

  2. Yea I knew that Bob.. When I was in high school a friend told me that you can plant the top of a pineapple and it will grow so I tried it and the pineapple started to grow ,until winter it was to cold for it then ..thanks for the info Bob …Phil n Jess

  5. I had a pineapple houseplant for a long time. Though I never got it to fruit I do know they don't grow on trees.

    I'm reasonably sure pineapples aren't native to the Philippines too should look that up I suppose but I'm feeling lazy.

  7. Hi Bob- Well I knew they didn't grow on trees hahaha!! But despite Bukidnon being the pineapple growing centre in Mindanao I don't care for them very much I prefer mango, much sweeter.
    Regards.
    Jim.

  8. as a davao kid, i thought dole & del monte were the same thing. i'm pretty sure a lot of my friends thought the same too. in fact, they probably still think the same to this day. they were just pineapples with "d" logos. no need to tell them apart, just eat them.

    to me pineapples with "d" logos where common all over the world. nothing special just like like warm rain & beaches. sometimes, i wished i didn't leave that rabbit hole.

    to this day, i can barely tell them apart. in fact, this post is the first time i attempted reading the difference between the two. i'm just a regular spoiled davao boy when it comes fruit 🙂

  9. Hi Bob,
    Don't worry, you are not alone. I thought that also. I have learned many things reading this site. Thanks Bob.

  10. Hey Bob, Me again. I guess for me since most tropical fruits grow on trees I just assumed pineapples did also. But then you know what assume means. 😉

  11. Hi Jim – The people down in South Cotabato would argue with you when you say Bukidnon is the Pineapple growing center in Mindanao!

    I like pineapples and mangoes equally, I'd say. They are both excellent.

  12. Hi macky – Ah, so you are doing expat learning away from the Philippines! It's a two way street! For me, I can easily taste the difference between a Dole and Del Monte pineapple! And, I am quickly becoming spoiled by the fruit here myself!

  13. Hi David J – 😀 glad to know I am not alone! Of course, yesterday Tom Ramberg mentioned that he also thought pineapples grew on trees.

    I'm glad that you have found my site informative!

  14. Hi Bob,
    Ha ha,yes i did know the answer.

    Pineapples are native to Brazil and introduced to the Philippines by the Spanish.
    Philippines is the 2nd largest exporter of the fruit in the world after Thailand.
    Delmonte Philippines is the largest fully intergrated Pineapple operation in the world,farming 20000hectares.

    regards Chas.

  15. It's funny that all these years you've been in the Philippines, you didn't know what a pineapple plant looks like. 🙂

    Most people think that pineapple originated from Hawaii. The pineapple is not native to the Hawaiian Islands, it is originally to be found in Paraguay and in the southern part of Brazil. Natives spread the fruit throughout South America and Central America and into the Caribbean region, including the West Indies, where Christopher Columbus first found them. In fact, pineapples did not appear in Hawaii until 1813.

    ~August

  16. What about cashew? have you guys ever seen a cashew fruit tree? the cashew nut is actually grown outside the fruit.

    Sorry for being off-topic.

  17. Kamusta ka Bob,

    Yes, I knew this too, one of my classmates in elementary school was Japanese-Hawaiian girl, and for one of our experiments, we planted the top of a pineapple and grew one. I don't remember it tasting very good though..lol.
    But it sounds like the ones grown there have so much more taste to them, I can't wait to try all of the fruits and foods there in the Philippines.

    Salamat kaayo,
    Danny

  19. Hi Miss August – you misunderstood me. I didn't just recently figure this out… it's something I learned just after moving here! 😀 I'm ignorant… but not that ignorant! 😉

  20. Hi Miss August – Here's another one about the cashew… did you know that the cashew and the mango are related to each other, part of the same family? It's true.

  27. “Pineapple” is certainly a strange name for this common fruit that has no direct connections to pine or apple trees. When Christopher Columbus first brought the pineapple back from Guadeloupe to Spain’s Queen Isabella in 1493, no one in Europe had even seen anything quite like it. The Spanish saw the fruit’s resemblance to a pine cone, and first called it “Pine of the Indies”. The English called it an apple because of its tasty fruits. The name pineapple comes from the combination of the Spanish “pina” with the English “apple”.
    http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/pow/pinea…

    I love "The Google"! 🙂

  29. Yeah! I was surprised to learn that the “fruit” is not really a fruit at all but is a mass of individual berries fused to the central stalk.

    I learn something everyday! My time surfing the net is not totally wasted today! 😉

  30. Hi Bob – While stationed in Hawaii, our command was in the middle of Dole's pineapple fields. I lived in southern Oahu (Ewa Beach) and commuted on a back road, first through G&W sugar cane fields, then through Del Monte pineapple fields, and finally through Dole pineapple fields to get to work.

    Come harvest time, you'd see the "pineapple sakadas" out in the fields with their bolos, first chopping the fruit from the parent plant then chopping off the leaf tops before tossing the fruit onto a long conveyor belt attached to a large truck. The tops were tossed into baskets where they were saved for next planting season.

    A field would be "slashed & burned" after a couple years and replanted. That keeps the size pretty much standard – the older the plant, the smaller the fruit gets.

    BTW, the name "pineapple" was given to the fruit by the early European explorers because the fruit resembled a pine cone. 😉

  32. bob, on my first trip to the philippines i learned that certin pinapples grew one single frut and others grew four together on the same vine .that was suprising to me.you would have to pick 4 at once because they were groan togethar. what veriety is this?

  36. bob on my wifes cousins farm in gehing his veriety all had 4 pinapples per plant. maybe this is a hybred. i dont know but i was shocked.

  37. these pinapples are all joined at the bottom ./ the majority together is four but we have counted six one one plant before. if i can get a picture ill post it.

  38. Bob: As an FYI, Dole has shuttered most of the pineapple production in HI, due to high labor costs…They just kept the visitors center open for tourism. Most of the pineapples you see in the States are actually Mexican. There is simply no comparison between the fresh ripe ones here and the hard yellow bland ones in the States.

  41. Hi John – That's interesting, I didn't know that Dole had shut down growing in HI, although the labor costs could make it prohibitive. Hey.. I missed you on your trip last week. I texted you on the Philippine cell number that I have for you, but seems it didn't get to you! Next time!

  42. Hmmm…. I was able to log on at lunch and tried to e-mail you. You must not have gotten it. My agents added a dinner meeting in GenSan, so I had to stay down there, and had to get back to Manila for my Kuwait flight. Sometimes my schedule gets entirely crazy!

  43. good thing i like fruits and fish(seafood)because they are cheap in P.I when i stayed in mandaue last time i eat kan kong-(mispelled)every day with different meats and fish and garlic,fresh green beans saute with oil and garlic. i ate fresh nukos(calamari)and lechon baboy and manok ,caldereta ,lapu lapu fish. i think i gained 20 lbs in the philippines and so did my relatives.especialy when i was washing the food down with san miguel ice beer!!!hahahahaha

  44. Chas is so full of info, he's like a walking Wikipidia! 🙂

    Maayong buntag Manong Bob, dia pa ko sa hospital, nag-trabaho pa, nag-night shift ko. It's quiet at the moment. Gi-basa nimo ang akong tubag sa tawo nga nasuko sa imong kumedya? I think mahi-mout ka gyud! 🙂

    I love pineapples. Of course I knew where they come from, Grandma used to grow some around her little garden in Mactan Island. I don't think I've seen Del Monte in Oz? I know I've bought some Dole here. I'm sure I read somewhere that says you're supposed to pick the pineapples when they are ripe because if you pick it still green, it is not sweet once it's ripe.

  50. Hi Bob- Queensland, the state I live in Australia is the major pineapple growing area here, because you need to be in a tropical or subtropical climate to grow them. The best way to buy pineapple here is from a local farmer or roadside vendor because the supermarket ones are picked before they have a chance to sweeten/ripen on the plant/bush. I myself am a bit adverse too too much acidity in fruit, so when I am in R.P, I can eat pineapples everyday without any adverse reaction, and really enjoy the taste.

    One more good reason to live in, or enjoy the Philippines.

  51. Hi Anthony – Like you, if fruit is too acidic, it gives me problems with indigestion, and I have to avoid it. I never had that problem with Philippine pineapples!

  52. Well there you go, I thought it was another one of Sir BoBs April fools jokes. Being a city boy all my life I really thought pineapples came from cans. Later I assumed they were grown on trees like my partner assumes money grows on trees. Good article Sir BoB.