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I’ll give South Africans this – we are resourceful, and we are consistent.

In April, as the ban on the sale of alcohol dragged on (ha, or so we thought), pineapple sales soared, as did prices.

A kilogram that sold for around R12,50 a month before, was now selling for around R22,50, as home brewers decided to take a stab at making pineapple beer and other concoctions.

Well, given that life under lockdown is quickly turning into an extended viewing of Groundhog Day (or Palm Springs), it’s no surprise that the return of the alcohol sales ban has seen the same thing happen again.

Over to TimesLIVE:

In the week leading up to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s July 12 announcement that alcohol sales and distribution would be suspended with immediate effect, the average price which retailers paid for a box of 10 pineapples at the country’s municipal fresh produce markets, and directly from farmers, was R80.

On Monday July 13, the morning after the president’s shock announcement, that price shot up to R120. And by last Friday it was around R200, according to Food Lover’s Market national head of buying Vito Polera.

Polera says there’s a nationwide shortage of pineapples at the moment, and they’re struggling to keep up with the demand.

You can stop us buying booze legally, but you can never stop us from suiping.

Whilst paying more isn’t ideal for consumers, on the other side of the equation, the demand comes as sweet relief:

Fred Visser of KwaZulu-Natal pineapple producer Gwanzi Queen Pineapples said the unexpected boom was welcome after many tough, drought-stricken years, when production costs outstripped the prices the industry fetched for their pineapples.

“Right now demand is greater than supply, which is driving up the price, as with any commodity,” he said.

“We have no control over what people are doing with the pineapples they buy, but I’m not complaining about the demand.”

The more pineapples we use to brew beer, the fewer pineapples end up on pizza. It’s simple logic, and should be welcomed by all of us who are against this abomination.

If you’re looking for some pineapple beer recipes, swing in here.

Let’s just hope pineapples don’t go the way of cigarettes, and we end up buying them whilst wearing hoodies under bridges, nervously glancing around in fear of being arrested, paying way over market value at the same time.

[source:timeslive]