Pineapple 'catastrophe' leads to calls for help

Over the coming weeks 800,000 pineapples will be harvested from the Yeppoon based Valley Syndicate property where Mr Cranny is business manager.

"Our farm is about to start picking 400 or 500 bins a week," he said.

"We normally pick a little over two million pines a year on this farm, and in the next four weeks we will pick 800,000, so about a third of our annual production is about to come in.

"Usually our production is spread evenly over the year, we are looking at a bit of a catastrophe as far as harvesting it, a bit of a catastrophe in working out how to sell it all."

Farmers usually can control flowering, allowing pineapples to be harvested by block throughout the year.

A natural flowering event caused by 2022's cool, wet winter means millions of pineapples will all fruit inconsistently in the coming weeks.

Mr Cranny said this makes handpicking the harvest a challenge, as each block will have fruit at different levels of maturity.

"We have a few backpackers starting next week, but we still need experienced people to run a crew," he said.

"They have to know what to pick, because everything can't be picked at the same time.

"So we have new guys coming that will take a week or two to train and then we will be almost done."

The explosion of pineapples about to hit the market has led to a push for consumers to consider popping a pineapple in the shopping trolley.

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With an estimated record supply of 2,446,500 pineapples expected to pass through their packing sheds over the next few weeks, Pure Gold Pineapples has launched the "TAKE TWO" campaign asking shoppers to grab two pines in their weekly shop over the coming months.

It's a message Mr Cranny hopes Aussie families can get behind.

"It's not just Yeppoon that's affected, it's the whole of Queensland," he said.

"The message we are trying to get out is if we can convince people to buy a couple of pines, one or two pines per family - we will get through this.

"If we could even have a pineapple for every family in Australia every two weeks, we wouldn't have any problem at all."

With so many pineapples available, Mr Cranny believes prices will be low, and encouraged shoppers to consume their pineapples soon after purchase.

He also warns the mass flowering event will mean they may be harder to locate after this harvest is complete.

"The rest of the year is going to be short, there will be pockets of farms and blocks that will have some pines for the rest of the year, but I would say this year will be a glut January, February and a bit light further on," he said.

"The pineapples you buy in the shops don't need to sit on the bench for a week or two, they are ready to eat.

"Take it home, crack it open and get into it."

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