Pineapple is a fruit-bearing plant native to tropical and subtropical America notably Brazil and Paraguay area where wild relatives occur, the pineapple was apparently domesticated by the Indians and carried by them up through South and Central America to Mexico and the West Indies long before the arrival of Europeans. The flesh ranges from nearly white to yellow. Pineapple is the second harvest of importance after bananas, contributing to over 20% of the world production of tropical fruits. The pineapple has become a characteristic ingredient in the meat, vegetable, fish, and rice dishes of various oriental styles of cooking. Pineapple processing includes dried pineapples, juice, pulp, jelly, marmalades, fillings, vinegar, sauce, jam and nectar. Also, canned pineapple is consumed throughout the world. The highest grade is the skinned, cored fruit sliced crosswise and packed in syrup. Undersize or overripe fruits are cut into "spears", chunks or cubes.

Thai pineapple
The local pineapple industry took off during the early 70’s and Thailand is now one of the major producers of pineapple in the world. The average annual production amounted to 2 million tonnes. Small farmers, generally occupying from 1 to 5 ha of land, constitute more than 95% of all producers. About 20% of to the production is for fresh consumption while the rest is destined for processing. Pineapple production has long been a free trade enterprise but has gradually become a contract business.