China's Pineapple Sour Glut Crushes Prices, Taiwan Encourages Crop Shift

China's domestic cultivation of Taiwanese pineapple sours has caused prices to plummet, leading Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture to promote processing and crop conversion for affected farmers. China banned imports of the fruit in September 2021, citing pest concerns, and only conditionally resumed them in June 2023 for a limited number of approved farms.

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China's large-scale production and price collapse have made it difficult for Taiwanese pineapple sours to compete with locally grown ones.

However, the situation worsened for Taiwanese producers as China's own large-scale cultivation drove down prices. In 2024, China canceled the zero-tariff policy, imposing a 29% tax on Taiwanese pineapple sours, making them uncompetitive against China's domestically grown fruit. This has significantly impacted Taiwan's export market, which previously relied on China for 95% of its pineapple sour exports.

In response to the 2021 ban, Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture initiated support measures. Farmers choosing to abandon their orchards receive a subsidy of NT$150,000 per hectare, while those converting to other stable crops are incentivized with NT$200,000 per hectare. Over 200 hectares have already been converted to crops such as oil tea, lychee, and avocado. These efforts have helped reduce the cultivation area from 2,951 hectares in 2021 to 2,454 hectares last year, with a target of under 2,000 hectares for the coming year.

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Farmers who wish to abandon their orchards receive a subsidy of NT$150,000 per hectare, and those converting to other crops receive a bonus of NT$200,000 per hectare.

The ministry also encourages processing the fruit, which has a short shelf life, to create products like dried fruit, wine, and puree. Pineapple sour wine developed with a low-temperature freezing technique has even won international awards and is used in Michelin-starred restaurants. Despite these efforts, some farmers reportedly prioritized selling to China for better prices before the tariff increase, only to return to local processors afterward. Currently, over 600 tons of pineapple sours were processed last year, primarily into semi-finished products like puree for beverages and wine bases.

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The processing of pineapple sours into products like puree can serve as a base for beverages or wine.