The inland pineapple of Kenya's north coast, specifically the 'cayenne' quality from the Magarini sub-county in Kilifi County, has been judged the sweetest and tastiest in all of Africa and is certainly among the best in the world, according to some specialised sites..
In spite of severe drought and climate change, Kenya is among the leading tropical countries supplying the world with the peculiar and very popular tropical fruit. It competes with Asia-Pacific countries such as the Philippines, the Indian subcontinent, Central America and South-East Asia for pineapple growth. In total, the eighty-two pineapple-growing nations cover over two million acres of land for its cultivation. According to the website 'biovision', the pineapple is second only to the banana as the world's most exported product. This is partly due to its varieties, which are estimated to number at least 600. The main variety in Kenya is the Smooth Cayenne, which accounts for eight out of 10 pineapples produced in the country. Not only in the Magarini and Marafa areas, where there is also a Delmonte cultivation, but in Thika, north of Nairobi, which has always been considered the 'mecca' of the pineapple. The Malindi area, however, is second only to Thika in production and export.
Despite these firsts, it must be remembered that the pineapple is not an indigenous fruit of the African continent; the first specimens in fact arrived along the Swahili coast, in Kenya and Tanzania, thanks to Portuguese explorers who introduced it. The explorers may have transported it from its native Brazil and then cultivated it in Malindi, before continuing on one of their first voyages to India.