More than 10 years ago, it was difficult to buy a tasty pineapple. The fruits that made it to the UK were green on the outside and, more often than not, hard with an unpleasant taste within. Then in 1996, the Del Monte Gold pineapple produced in Hawaii first hit our shelves.
The new type of pineapple looked more yellowy-gold than green. It was slightly softer on the outside and had a lot of juice inside. But the most important thing about this new type of pineapple was that it was twice as sweet as the hit-and –miss pineapples we had known. In no time, the Del Monte Gold took the market by storm, rapidly becoming the world’s best-selling pineapple variety, and delivering natural levels of sweetness in the mouth, up until then only found in tinned pineapple.
In nutrition (营养) it was all good news too. This nice-tasting pineapple contained four times more vitamin C(维生素C)than the old green variety. Nutritionists said that it was not only full of vitamins, but also good against some diseases. People were understandably eager to be able to buy this wonderful fruit. The new type of pineapple was selling fast, and the Del Monte Gold pineapple rapidly became a fixture in the shopping basket of the healthy eater.
Seeing the growing market for its winning pineapple, Del Monte tried to keep the market to itself. But other fruit companies developed similar pineapples, Del Monte turned to law for help, but failed .Those companies argued argued successfully that Del Monte’s attempts to keep the golden pineapple for itself were just a way to knock them out of the market.

十多年前,很难找到好吃的菠萝.到达英国的菠萝通常外皮很绿,果肉味道难吃.后来在1996年,产于夏威夷的德尔蒙特金菠萝最初登上了英国的货架.
这种新型的菠萝外皮不绿,而是略呈金黄色.外部稍软,内部果汁丰富.但是关于这种新型菠萝最重要的一点是:它比我们以往知道的快速上市又下市的菠萝要甜上两倍.很快,德尔蒙特金菠萝席卷了英国市场.迅速成为各种不同种类的菠萝中最畅销的品种.甜度适宜的口感以往只能在罐装菠萝中尝到.
德尔蒙特金菠萝营养也极高.这种口感极佳的菠萝含有比以往绿菠萝多四倍的维他命.营养学家说它不仅富含维他命,而且可以抵抗某些疾病.可以理解,人们十分渴望能够买这种奇妙的水果.这种新型水果十分畅销,德尔蒙特金菠萝迅速成为健康食品购买者购物篮中的必买的食品.
看到自己的成功的菠萝不断扩大市场,德尔蒙特公司试图独占市场.然而,其他的水果公司开发出了相似品种的菠萝.德尔蒙特公司求助于法律,但没有成功.那些公司认为德尔蒙特公司独占市场的意图正是把它们挤出市场的途径.