THE world’s priciest pineapple – costing £1,000 per slice – is grown in CORNWALL.
Although they’re not up for sale, growers estimate an entire fruit could fetch as much as £10,000.
Tropical fruit farmers keep the pineapple plants in wooden pits, kept extra toasty with horse manure.
Each plant takes two years to grow and only produces ONE of the spiky fruits.
But growers at The Lost Gardens of Heligan this week managed to harvest one.
The tropical fruit cannot be naturally grown in the UK’s cold climate – but boffins in the 17th century developed a way to trick the plant into thinking it was warmer.
Pineapples were grown in the UK after Brits developed a taste for them in the tropics.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan, who make the expensive fruit, shared the pineapple between their 15-strong team – despite the hefty price tag they could get for it.
Dina, a part of the Productive Garden Team at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, said: “It was a momentous occasion for the team who were each treated to a small piece of lusciously juicy and deliciously tropical tasting fruit, just as you would have in the tropics!
“After these years of hard work, it is almost sad to crop the fruit, however we take the crown and replant it, letting the pineapple live on to another harvest.”
Including man hours looking after it, the transport cost of manure and maintenance, each pineapple costs them £1,000 to grow.
They grow in specially designed pits heated by a supply o
