$395 pineapple being sold at Southern California produce store

(KTLA) - Families in California pay more for groceries than in any other state. Now, a single fruit is being sold at a Southern California retailer that costs more than the average of $297.72 per week that households typically spend on food in the Golden State.

The Rubyglow pineapple is available from Melissa's Produce for a whopping $395.99. The fruit is pinkish-red on the outside and yellow on the inside.

Only a few thousand of the expensive pineapples are produced each year by Fresh Del Monte, which sells a variety of produce.

Del Monte says the Rubyglow pineapple is a result of 15 years of research. The company had a limited number available only in China earlier this year before electing to bring the fruit to the U.S.

High-end consumers have become more interested in luxury fruits in recent years. Items such as Honeycrisp apples, Oishii strawberries and Sumo Citrus have garnered strong sales despite being more pricey than non-speciality fruits.

Grocery prices fell on the whole in April for the first time in 12 months, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.

The Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI), the closely watched inflation gauge, shows that prices for food at home fell 0.2% in April. This was the first time food-at-home prices fell since April 2023 and followed several months of plateauing.