What begins with the planting of a spiky green crown eventually ends as golden fruit on tables across Kenya, the Middle East and Europe.
But between planting and plate lies a complex process process—a story of time, precision, sustainability and innovation.
“We often say the pineapple is the queen of fruits. It has a crown, and that’s exactly where the journey starts,” says Jorge Miranda, Agriculture Operations Director at Del Monte Kenya.
Planting the queen
Del Monte Kenya grows pineapples on more than 4,200 hectares of land, which translates to approximately 10,000 acres.
According to Miranda, the planting begins with the crown of a harvested pineapple.
It’s a meticulous process: workers carefully remove the top, prepare the land and place the crown into the soil.
“This is just planted,” Miranda explains, gesturing to a young field.
“We plant the crown here, and from this point, it takes 18 months to get the first fruit. One and a half years for one pineapple.”
To compensate for the long wait, the fields are densely packed.
Each hectare holds over 65,000 plants. The goal is high volume at harvest time, despite the lengthy growth period.
The crop cycle spans three and a half years.
After the first fruit, the field can produce pineapples for a few more harvests before it’s cleared, rested and replanted.
Every year, Del Monte Kenya plants about 1,300 hectares and harvests 2,000, yielding roughly 200,000 metric tons of pineapples.
Why MD2 is the gold standard
Del Monte Kenya exclusively grows the MD2 variety, also known as the Del Monte Gold® pineapple, introduced by the company about a decade ago to replace the older Smooth Cayenne.
“The MD2 is number one in the fresh market worldwide,” says Miranda. “It also gives good recovery for canning because of its cylindrical shape.”
The MD2’s advantages go beyond shape. Its sweetness-acidity balance, known in the industry as “Brix,” makes it ideal for both juice and table consumption.
“It has a very nice balance between citric and ascorbic acid,” Miranda explains. “Our juice is special because of that variety.”
While the Smooth Cayenne, still common in local markets and Uganda, is known for its whiter flesh and less uniform ripening, MD2 ripens evenly and has a more intense yellow color throughout the fruit.
“That’s why our fresh pineapples taste consistently good,” Miranda notes.
Irrigation for year-round harvest
Pineapples are not seasonal at Del Monte Kenya. Thanks to modern irrigation, the company has eliminated the traditional planting cycles dictated by Kenya’s rainfall patterns.
“Rain here usually comes from March to May and sometimes in October,” Miranda explains. “But we want pineapples all year. That’s why irrigation is essential.”
Del Monte Kenya employs a drip irrigation system, significantly more efficient than traditional methods.
“Sprinklers used to waste up to 40 percent more water,” Miranda says. “With drip, we deliver water exactly where it's needed.”
Water conservation is a high priority, especially with changing climate patterns.
“The rain now comes faster and in shorter bursts. What used to fall over two months may now fall in just one. So, we’re expanding our water storage dams,” he adds.
These dams help the company maintain supply even when rivers run dry.
Precision farming and sustainability
Del Monte Kenya has embraced what Miranda calls “smart farming.”
This includes the use of drones, satellite imaging and soil monitoring to identify areas under stress or in need of intervention.
“Instead of spraying the entire plantation, we use precision agriculture,” he says.
“If there's a pest problem in one area, we only treat that section. It’s more sustainable.”
The company also recycles its agricultural waste. What used to be seen as “waste” is now “residue,” and it’s being transformed into biofertilizers, soil amendments and even biostimulants.
A new biofertiliser plant has been established near Del Monte Kenya Ltd, utilizing leftover residues from the pineapple cannery to produce a variety of biofertilisers that will not only meet the company’s needs but also be available to farmers in Kenya and neighbouring East African countries.
“We are working with our research and development team to find uses for pineapple residues. These can benefit not just the crop, but also the soil and nearby communities,” says Miranda.
Protecting nature and the future
Sustainability at Del Monte Kenya also includes tree planting and riparian zone protection.
“It’s not just for pineapples. It’s for biodiversity, birds, small animals and even the hippos we have in our dams.”
Riparian zones, those strips of vegetation along rivers and streams, are often illegally cleared for farming.
Del Monte Kenya tries to do the opposite. “If we don’t protect the rivers from the Aberdares all the way to the sea, there will be no farming at all,” Miranda warns.
As a global company, Del Monte’s tree planting efforts are replicated in other locations, but in Kenya, the initiative is especially crucial due to increasing pressure on natural water sources.
From field to fork
Harvesting at Del Monte Kenya is an art. Workers inspect the fields, looking for what Miranda calls “DMG”—a specific ripeness level suitable for sea export.
These pineapples are not fully yellow but have enough sugar to last the journey.
“One pineapple might go by ship and take up to 25 days to reach the Middle East. So, it must be mature but not overripe,” he explains.
The company also exports pineapples by air. These are very ripe fruits that land on foreign tables just two days after harvest.
“These are super sweet and golden throughout,” Miranda says. “But they can’t survive a long sea voyage.”
Locally, pineapples are harvested at different ripeness levels depending on the intended market.
Miranda points out that some customers prefer very sweet fruit, while others enjoy a touch of acidity.
“Personally, I like mine a bit less ripe, with some acidity. In my country, we even sprinkle salt on pineapple,” Jorge from South America, shares with a laugh.
Inside the processing and canning plant at Del Monte Kenya
While a quarter of Del Monte Kenya’s pineapples are sold fresh in local and international markets, the bulk, about 75 percent, is processed through canning or juicing at their Thika-based factory.
The machinery adheres to international standards for food safety, peeling, coring, slicing, sterilizing, and canning multiple formats, slices, chunks, tidbits, as well as producing juice concentrates and cattle feed.
This transformation from farm produce to canned goods is an industrial operation that supports not just export volumes, but also food preservation and value addition.
According to Miranda, the MD2 variety grown at Del Monte Kenya is ideal for both fresh and processed markets.
“There’s no difference in quality between pineapples sent for canning and those sold fresh,” Miranda explains.
“We only select based on the outer appearance, if it’s not perfectly shaped or the crown leans a bit, it may go for processing. But internally, the sweetness and acidity balance are the same”
Local and global reach
Del Monte Kenya is one of Kenya’s largest exporters and importers.
The company exports containers of fresh pineapples and canned products each year to the Middle East and Europe.
“We’ve been recognised by Kenya Ports Authority and the Kenya Revenue Authority as one of the biggest taxpayers and movers of trade,” Miranda says.
Locally, Del Monte Kenya pineapples are sold in major supermarkets including Naivas, Quickmart, Carrefour and others.
More than 4,000 tons of pineapples are sold yearly across Kenya, from Mombasa to Kisumu.
“What makes our pineapples different is that they’re available 52 weeks a year,” says Miranda.
“Not just seasonally like others from Uganda or smallholder farms.”
Del Monte Kenya’s entire pineapple chain, from field to can, holds the prestigious Sustainably Grown® certification by SCS Global Services.
This certification covers sustainable cropping, ecosystem protection, resource and energy management, waste handling, quality control and social responsibility.
Sweet, sustainable and ready to serve
Whether shipped in containers to Dubai or sliced fresh at a Nairobi breakfast table, Del Monte Kenya’s pineapples carry a story of soil, time, water, innovation and care.
From a humble crown buried in rich Kenyan soil to a perfectly ripened fruit packed for export, every pineapple reflects a system carefully designed to balance productivity and sustainability.
“We’re always improving,” Miranda says.
“Agriculture is changing, climate is changing. But we are adapting, we’re innovating, and we’re making sure our fruit, and our environment, are here for the long run.”
