Singapore has ordered 25 tons of pineapples from Tainan, Taiwan. That’s as Taiwan faces a sudden ban of its pineapples from China in place since March 1. Since China is Taiwan’s primary pineapple export market, the ban has led to a crisis that has only been resolved by an increase of domestic orders.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che says that Taiwan is turning the crisis into a new opportunity. Taiwanese businessmen have assisted with the orders from a trade company in Singapore. The first batch was packed up in Tainan on Tuesday.
April is peak pineapple season in Tainan. Huang says that Tainan’s agricultural bureau will work with farmers to help market their pineapples both domestically and overseas and to develop more pineapple products. He says that this is a good opportunity for Taiwan to diversify its fruit export markets.