Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A pineapple grown in Costa Rica can sell for $400 in the U.S. — and it's illegal to buy, sell, or even grow in the country that produces it.
*Ever wonder why some items you buy are so expensive? Find out here:* clickhubspot.com/9vdh
That's not an accident. It's the direct result of a mistake Del Monte made in the 1990s, when it spent 30 years developing the Golden Pineapple, tripled U.S. pineapple sales, and then lost control of the whole thing — because a farmer hired to grow it leaked it, and eventually Dole was growing the exact same fruit in Honduras. Del Monte never had the right patent. The secret was out.
So with the PinkGlow — a GMO engineered to convert its own lycopene into pink flesh instead of yellow — they built a legal fortress instead: plant patents, utility patents, registered trademarks, and a biosafety law that turns the Costa Rican government into their enforcement arm.
A pineapple grown in Costa Rica can sell for $400 in the U.S. — and it's illegal to buy, sell, or even grow in the country that produces it.
*Ever wonder why some items you buy are so expensive? Find out here:* clickhubspot.com/9vdh
That's not an accident. It's the direct result of a mistake Del Monte made in the 1990s, when it spent 30 years developing the Golden Pineapple, tripled U.S. pineapple sales, and then lost control of the whole thing — because a farmer hired to grow it leaked it, and eventually Dole was growing the exact same fruit in Honduras. Del Monte never had the right patent. The secret was out.
So with the PinkGlow — a GMO engineered to convert its own lycopene into pink flesh instead of yellow — they built a legal fortress instead: plant patents, utility patents, registered trademarks, and a biosafety law that turns the Costa Rican government into their enforcement arm.
