The arrival of Colada Royale, a pineapple 15 years in the making, marks more than just a new variety launch, as Dole’s Bil Goldfield explains
The world’s largest fruit supplier is certain that consumers are ready for a new kind of pineapple. In September 2025, Dole launched Colada Royale, a premium variety designed to offer something new in a relatively mature and unchanged category.
With distinctive sweetness and subtle notes of coconut and piña colada, the product is right at the heart of a wider strategy to create more value through premium product quality and better engagement with consumers.
Now, as production increases and Colada Royale begins to attract attention in the market, the company’s director of corporate communications Bil Goldfield explains the thinking behind the launch, discusses changing consumer trends in tropical fruit, and outlines how the company plans to use new varieties and premiumisation to grow its pineapple sales.
Bil, what was the strategic thinking behind Colada Royale? Why did you want to develop and sell a product of this kind?
Bil Goldfield: The pineapple category has remained relatively unchanged for the past few decades, particularly since the emergence of golden varieties in the early 2000s. We believed there was still an opportunity to create meaningful innovation through flavour, eating experience, and consumer engagement rather than simply visual novelty.
Colada Royale was developed over more than 15 years through conventional, non-GMO breeding with the objective of creating a pineapple that offered a genuinely differentiated sensory profile. The goal was to introduce a premium tropical fruit experience. Colada Royale delivers this with naturally smooth sweetness and subtle coconut notes while remaining accessible to mainstream consumers.
At the same time, the project was envisioned as more than just a product launch. We wanted Colada Royale to demonstrate how agricultural innovation could also create broader value for workers and farming communities as well as retail business. That is why proceeds from its sales are helping fund the new Fundepim Community Center, near the Montecristo farm in Honduras where the variety was developed.
From a market demand and customer perspective, where exactly do you see commercial opportunities for the product?
BG: The initial opportunity is primarily within premium retail, where consumers are increasingly looking for differentiated flavour experiences and products with stronger storytelling and origin transparency. Retailers have responded positively because Colada Royale gives them an opportunity to introduce something genuinely new within a mature fruit category.
That said, as more supply becomes available we also see long-term potential within foodservice and speciality fresh-cut programmes, because of the fruit’s unique flavour profile and visual distinction. Chefs and food professionals have shown strong interest in its versatility for desserts, beverages, grilled applications, and tropical pairings.
We believe the product can succeed across multiple channels because it combines novelty with familiarity. Consumers understand pineapple, but Colada Royale offers an experience they do not expect from the category today.
What do you think the arrival of more premium products says about the way the international market for tropical fruits is changing?
BG: Consumers globally are becoming more selective and experience-driven in fresh produce. Increasingly, they are looking for products that combine quality, flavour, authenticity, and purpose. Tropical fruit categories are no longer competing only on price and availability. There is growing interest in premiumisation, varietal differentiation, and production stories.
At the same time, retailers want to create excitement and incremental growth in mature categories. Products like Colada Royale demonstrate that consumers are willing to explore new tropical fruit experiences when the differentiation is meaningful and supported by consistent quality.
We also believe there is growing expectation that innovation should deliver broader value beyond the product itself, whether through sustainability, community impact, or responsible production practices‚ which Colada Royale also delivers.
What challenges have you faced in bringing this new pineapple to market?
BG: One of the primary challenges has been balancing limited production volumes with very strong early demand. Because Colada Royale is being introduced gradually, maintaining consistency in flavour, maturity, and quality has been critically important.
“Consumers globally are becoming more selective and experience-driven in fresh produce.”
The fruit is hand-selected for ripeness, and careful coordination across harvesting, cold chain management, shipping, and retail handling is necessary to ensure the intended eating experience reaches consumers. Pineapples already require precise logistics management, but premium products naturally increase expectations around quality and consistency.
Dole’s long experience in global pineapple operations and vertically integrated supply chain has been an important advantage in managing that process successfully.
In the future, what approach will Dole take towards IP and genetics in tropical fruit? Do you expect to develop more ‘club-style’ varieties?
BG: Dole continues to invest in its core tropical fruit business, including varietal development, where consumer tastes, retailer needs and market opportunities intersect. Colada Royale reflects the company’s belief that meaningful innovation can still come from patient research, agronomic expertise, and flavour-focused breeding.
At this stage, the focus remains on scaling Colada Royale responsibly and ensuring consistent quality as production expands. The company does see value in differentiated premium varieties that create excitement for consumers and opportunities for retailers, but each project must offer authentic innovation rather than novelty alone.
This article originally appeared in the Fruitnet Tropicals Congress 2026 edition of Eurofruit Magazine.
