Federal plan upsets Maui firm

At issue is the threat of disease raised by imports of Thai fruit

Maui Land and Pineapple Co. is objecting to a United States Department of Agriculture proposal to allow shipments of irradiated tropical fruit from Thailand into the U.S.

The USDA recently published a proposal to allow Thai pineapples, mangos, lychees, rambutans, longans and mangosteens into the U.S. if they are grown in approved areas and treated with irradiation to kill pests.

Last week, Maui Land and Pineapple Co. issued a written statement saying it will file a formal response to the proposal asking that the USDA take a closer look at whether Thai fruit could bring plant diseases to Hawaii, such as bacterial wilt disease, and asking for an economic impact study on how Thai imports could affect family farms in Hawaii's emerging exotic tropical fruit industry.

The statement did not say whether the company believes Thai pineapples could be a threat to its business. Although it notes that the company believes consumers would be able to tell that "irradiated pineapple from Thailand would be inferior to Hawaiian fresh pineapple."

It's unclear if or how much of a threat Thai fruit would pose to Hawaii's $80 million pineapple industry.

A spokesman for Dole Food Co., which also grows pineapples in Hawaii and has a cannery in Thailand, said the proposal should have no effect on Dole's Hawaii operations because pineapple is a heavy fruit that would not survive the journey in shipping containers from Thailand to the U.S.

"It's going to be too cost prohibitive (to ship by air)," said company spokesman Marty Ordman. "We just don't see that it's a likely scenario."

Ordman said that as far as he knows the company does not have plans to import Thai pineapples or other tropical fruits to the U.S.

Del Monte Fresh Produce, which recently announced plans to close its pineapple operations in Hawaii, declined to comment to the Star-Bulletin about the USDA proposal.

Ivan Feinseth, a stock analyst with Matrix USA, noted that Hawaiian pineapples already compete with fresh pineapples from Costa Rica. Feinseth, who covers Maui Land and Pineapple Co., said he believes allowing Thai pineapples into the U.S. would "absolutely" affect the company's fresh pineapple business. But he said that's not a reason to stop buying MLP stock.

"People are buying the stock more for its real estate value," Feinseth said.

Maui Land and Pineapple Co. said it will also ask the USDA to clearly label all fruit, including fruit from Thailand, as irradiated.

Pineapples from Hawaii do not undergo irradiation treatment before being shipped to the mainland.

Growers of other specialty tropical fruit in Hawaii applauded Maui Land and Pineapple's statement.

Susan Hamilton, a vice president at Hula Brothers, which ships rambutans and other specialty fruit to the mainland, said Thai fruit should be treated no differently than fruit treated with irradiation from Hawaii.

"All fruits should be labeled," she said, adding that she also supports an economic impact study on how allowing Thai fruit into the U.S. would affect small businesses like her Big Island wholesale and farming operation.