Pinabar 2

Browse the supermarket shelves before heading to a summer picnic and you might be tempted to select a pineapple, if it wasn’t so difficult to prepare on the go.

But that might soon be a problem of the past thanks to a new in-store innovation developed by Costa Rican pineapple supplier Chestnut Hill Farms and tech company Dutch Food Technology (DFT).

The Piñabar is a fridge-sized processing machine that takes wholehead pineapples and within 20 seconds deposits the sliced version in a waiting bucket, which shoppers then take to the till to pay. It’s an approach that is sure to delight children, bring theatre to the fresh produce aisle, and in European retailers where it is already present, it reportedly boosts wholehead pineapple sales by three to six times.

“Pineapples are a bit intimidating to prepare,” says Chestnut Hill Farms president, Raul Romero, whose company approached DFT a few years ago. Since then, the company has become the exclusive partner for the machine in the US, while in Europe it has helped facilitate introductions to retail customers and promote the innovation at events.

“We are working with DFT and their development of a user-friendly machine for topping pineapples. It peels the pineapple in 20 seconds. There’s a lot of interest in it and we’re in talks with UK retailers,” he explains.

Trialled by Carrefour in Spain, as well as in retailers in Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and Australia, the Piñabar debuted in Germany’s Edeka last year with great success, according to DFT sales manager Michel van Keeken, while a trial in Waitrose is due to take place this September.

“When Germany came on board last year that was a big breakthrough. Stores with a Piñabar have been known to increase sales by between three and six times,” he says. “Next to that their in-store experience and service level has increased in perceived value for the customers.”

Romero says Chestnut Hill Farms is working to promote pineapples for health, as well as convenience aspects. “We are working with recipe developers to help communicate that it’s fun and very healthy, full of magnesium and calcium. These are the elements that we need to do more work on,” he explains.

With both retailers and suppliers on board, the Piñabar might well be a welcome boost to the pineapple category, marking its entrance into picnics and the convenience world that lies beyond.