Premium pineapple variety is breeder’s ‘crowning glory’, and offers consumers new flavour experience as well as higher vitamin content
Dole is to launch a new variety of pineapple, which it plans to market as a premium product under the brand name Colada Royale.
The fruit is dark green on the outside, cream-coloured on the inside, and apparently offers distinct notes of coconut and piña colada for what Dole describes as “the ultimate tropical eating experience”.
And according to the company, it contains more vitamin B6 than other varieties in its pineapple range.
Bil Goldfield, Dole’s director of communications, said the company wanted to disrupt the pineapple market status quo, using its experience of producing the fruit in Hawaii and Latin America to combine natural growing techniques with unexpected flavours.
“Our new Colada Royale Pineapple is not just a novelty or publicity gimmick,” he explained. “It’s Dole’s long-term strategy for getting more people to embrace the tropical majesty of pineapples with a luxurious new taste experience that leaves you wanting more.”
The new pineapple is a crowning achievement for breeder and Dole director Roberto Young, who developed the product in his native Honduras.
“I’m proud of my work at Dole and being able to help bring a pineapple like the Colada Royale to the world,” he commented. “As a pineapple breeder, I do much of my work quietly since it can take ten, 12 or even 15 years to create a new hybrid through natural processes – and only a very small percentage of the thousands we try ever make it to market. So, the Colada Royale is special. It will be my legacy.”
The Colada Royale debuts at the IFPA Global Produce and Floral Show in Anaheim, as well as in supermarkets throughout North America, in October.
In the last couple of years, rival marketer Fresh Del Monte has put premium products at the forefront of its own commercial strategy for pineapples, and now sells products including Honeyglow, Pinkglow, and Rubyglow as part of its high-end range.
