Carribean Sweet

Seed, not crown. Sourced from Costa Rica. The "Caribbean Sweet" name is a trademarked brand for an MD2 pineapple developed in the 1970s in Hawaii. From the Chestnut Hill Farms website: "... Two selections, 73-50 and 73-114 resulting from the cross between two PRI hybrids, 58-1184 and 59-443 which are complex mixtures of several varieties, each more than 50% Smooth Cayenne, were identified. Between 1973 and 1980 testing of these two selections were made in Maui and between 1978 and 1980 were also tested in plantations on Oahu. In 1980, both lines were released to Maui Pineapple Company and Del Monte for further evaluations. In 1981, 73-50 was renamed MD-1 for internal use and 73-114 was named MD-2. Both were named after Millie, the wife of Frank Dillard, then General Manager of the pineapple company. 73-50 is now more widely known as CO-2. In the mid 80's, MD-2 plants were shipped to Costa Rica. It is reported that it was the tenacity of two of the researchers that finally convinced their management to expand plantings and begin test marketing in the early 90's. This variety was originally introduced into Europe and then to the United States growing to $200 million dollars in sales by 1996." MD2 is more uniformly sweet and has a longer shelf life than its progenitor and predecessor, "Sweet Cayenne", which it has largely replaced in the global market. Limited quantity available.