Eleuthera Pineapples

Before Hawaii dominated the pineapple industry with pineapple canning companies such as Dole ,The Bahamas exported millions of pineapples and was the chief crop of The Bahamas. According to a Pacific history: the history of pineapple canning in Hawaii “ The Hawaiian canned pineapple had not displaced the Bahamian product from the American market . The main source of canned pineapple for the continental United States at the turn of the the twentieth century was The Bahamas. Many people preferred the taste of the Bahamian product”. in 1845 Eleuthera exported 400,000 pineapples to England and to The U.S.A by 1885 over a million pineapples were exported and was still the main crop of The Bahamas. J.S. Johnson was the pioneer in this field and set up a canning factory in Nassau with its branch plants in Eleuthera . Unfortunately the workers at the J. S Johnson factory in Governor's Harbour were exploited. All wages at the factory were paid in the form of tokens that could only be exchanged for goods initially at all local stores then eventually only at the company store during the canning season.Today Pineapples are still an important part of Bahamian culture. The pineapple is used in tarts,cakes, jams,beverages and in tropical conch salad. The pineapple is celebrated in the pineapple festival in June which has the 40-mile pineapple cycling classic, a triathlon, plaiting of the pineapple pole and Little Miss Pineapple Pageant.