"Pineapple, a famous fruit in Taiwan, tasty and delicious. But did you know that it grows in a pile of stones?" In 1961, more than 3000 soldiers were repatriated to Taiwan due to the war and they were employed to reclaim the wasteland. Officers and their families were settled in the Meinong and Qingjing farms, and 248 soldiers were forced to grow rice in a place called the Datong farm. In order to grow food, the soldiers really tried their best, some even sifted with a sieve or looked for mud in a stony field."
"Nevertheless, the environment was so tough that eight soldiers died in the first year. Then they made some changes to grow sweet potatoes, papaya and pineapple instead, which was an unintentional move, but they were in luck! The soldiers grew the best pineapples in the Pingtung region, even in the whole of Taiwan," said Mr. Lin, president of the Taiwan Nongyiyuan Agricultural Co. Ltd.
"As an entrepreneur engaged in real estate and the hotel industry for many years in Taiwan, I once tasted the local diamond pineapple by chance five years ago, and instantly I was attracted by the taste. After a careful investigation and learning from the professionals, I began to grow and sell the diamond pineapples. So far, we've already built a stable customer base in the mainland market with high quality pineapples, a good corporate reputation and a strong brand."
"As is known to all, pineapple is the leading industry of Taiwan and in the past few years, the total yield of pineapple has been showing a rising trend. Back in 2016, the growth of pineapple was dealt a devastating blow by a storm that lasted nearly 1 and a half months. The roots of many pineapples were rotted by being soaked in water for a long time, and the fruit size was very small. The storm led to a direct cut of about 70%, especially in the Pingtung region. At present, the pineapples that grow better are those after the storm in November last year, and part of them will be harvested this month. Compared to Pingtung, the damage to the pineapple situation in Gaoxiong, Tainan and Jiayi is better."
"In addition to the climate, the growth of the pineapple is also affected by topography and soil quality. The fruit quality and taste of Pingtung pineapples are better, which is mainly due to the geographical advantages of Pingtung and its relatively mature cultivation and sales market. Taiwan has an area of more than 10 thousand hectares, of which 3000-4000 hectares are located in Pingtung. This year, affected by the sharp decline in market supply, sales prices rose 25% over the same period last year."
"Several years ago, Taiwan's pineapple was mainly exported to Japan, but then we turned to mainland China, which is mainly due to the rapid development of China's economy, where the purchasing power of consumers has increased significantly. Moreover, the larger population of the mainland meant the demand for Taiwan's pineapples increase rapidly. The sharp cuts of this year have led many trade exporters to seize the market as soon as possible, some traders even picked the pineapples and sold to the mainland market when they were not fully mature. Those unmatured and inferior pineapples have led to a decline in consumer confidence, affecting the overall market sales. Now it is difficult to restore the trust of consumers, even with the better quality pineapples."
"Currently, the pineapples are mainly sold to East and Central China under our registered brand "Shitouji" through Gaoxiong port to Kinmen port of Taiwan and finally through Xiamen port of China. In addition to the original customer base, this year, we have increased our sales channels. We are a company that will take the quality as the core business philosophy, we hope that there will be more and more people who come to know our diamond pineapple, so that they have the opportunity to enjoy a healthy fruit from the island of Taiwan."
