[imagesource: 123RF/Svitlana Tereshchenko]

Pineapple on pizza? No, get out and don’t come back.

Pineapple home-brewed beer? Alright, I’m listening.

So too are thousands of other South Africans, apparently, because the sale of pineapples across the country has skyrocketed, along with Google searches for ‘how to make alcohol at home’.

We may have slowly but surely come to terms with saying farewell to Woolworths and their roast chicken, but ending the day without a beverage or two is proving trickier.

TimesLIVE reporting below:

On the the first day of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown in March, the Johannesburg fresh produce market sold 10,000 pineapples or so. On April 6 and 7 — a few days ahead of the Easter weekend — 60,000 pineapples were sold…

Then this past Monday, volumes skyrocketed to 90,000 pineapples on the day.

Prices have responded — while pineapples sold for about R12.50 a kilo in March, they have shot up 80% to R22.50 last weekend.

From 10 000 pineapples, up to 90 000 pineapples. That is one helluva spike.

Here’s something you never thought you would hear in this day and age – avocados may well see a price drop, with the local production season beginning and many of the big buyers, like restaurants, currently shut.

These are, indeed, unprecedented times.

Potatoes are also set for a drop in price, due to lower demand from restaurants and the takeaway industry, and the milk industry has also taken a hit:

Cheese inventories at certain processors have been affected by the closing of pizza and burger outlets during lockdown. And milk that would ordinarily have gone into making new cheese has been shifted into fresh or long-life milk plants. Some processors stuck with a lot of inventory even dropped cheese and milk prices to move the stock.

The executive director at Agri SA, Omri Van Zyl, says farmers are gearing up for a “bumper maize crop” this year, but the effect of the pandemic will be felt further down the line:

Farmers who import chemicals and seed will not escape the effect of the weak rand, though for now there is some reprieve on the fuel side as the oil price remains low.

The biggest concern is the economic fallout and stressed consumers. Van Zyl added that some of SA’s poorest citizens spend 65% of their income on food. Many farmers and workers will be at risk if the economy doesn’t revive soon, he cautioned.

After years of battling drought, along with other issues, it could be a tough road ahead for our farmers.

Van Zyl added that investment will be needed to stimulate the sector, and for that to happen, clarity about expropriation without compensation will also be needed.

Oh, and if you’re after a pineapple beer recipe of sorts, head here.

[source:timeslive]