(JOHANNESBURG)
The sale of pineapple in South Africa has gone up by a ten-fold spike, sequel to people tapping the properties of the spiky fruit to prepare a drink with an alcoholic kick during the lockdown amidst the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world.
However, while clamouring for the fruit, tge residents remain in their homes, in keeping to the rules of lockdown to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Duaglobalnews gathered that daily sales of pineapple have skyrocketed from an average of 10,000 to almost 100,000 as enterprising people use the fruit to brew their own beer just as they are obliged to remain in their homes.
Alcohol sales have been prohibited in South Africa since the national lockdown, which is now in its 46th day and is expected to continue for several more months at differentiated national, provincial and local levels in that country.
However, brewers explain that in the correct proportions, a mixture of pineapple, sugar and yeast, will produce a drink with an alcoholic kick.
Prices of pineapple as well as their availability in the marketplace have reacted proportionally to the demand for the fruit.
Consequently,the fruit, hitherto bought for as little as five rands (USD 0.27) a piece before the lockdown up is now 20 rands ($ 1.09).
Conversely, there has been some relief for lovers of potatoes and avocados, as prices have dropped substantially because the demand for them has fallen as all restaurants have been closed during the lockdown.
Potatoes are usually used extensively for the chips sold at thousands of takeaway shops around the country.
The pineapple (Ananas comosus), is a tropical plant with an edible fruit and the most economically, significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae.
The fruit is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries.
