From field to pouch: Life cycle-based external costs of pineapple puree from Costa Rica to Italy

Global food systems are responsible for one-third of anthropogenic emissions, yet traditional market prices rarely reflect the full societal costs of this production. This study applies Life Cycle Assessment and external cost monetization to quantify resource use, environmental impacts, and price distortions along the pineapple puree value chain from Costa Rica to Italy. Primary data cover agricultural production, processing, logistics, and packaging end-of-life. The impact assessment uses ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint, and environmental results are weighted using monetization factors from the Environmental Prices Handbook. Results per 1 tonne of pineapple puree show that the total external cost of production amounts to €3002.94, with human toxicity, particulate matter formation, and climate change as dominant impact categories. Processing stages are the main contributors to external costs, while agricultural production plays a secondary role. Internalizing these costs increases the producer price by 58%. Two mitigation scenarios in the production phase—waste sorting and packaging substitution—demonstrate a potential reduction of external costs of 8.9% and 18.6%, respectively. Monetization of environmental impacts emerges as a promising approach to analyse the unfair distribution of costs-impacts along value chains. Findings support decision-making and highlight the need for policy frameworks to integrate external costs into pricing.