In contrast with the theory of supply and demand, the strong increase in world supply - and hence in pineapple imports - did not result in a price fall, at least not at the beginning. The unit value of fresh pineapples increased- in the USA, the leading import market, from less than USD 400 per ton in 1994 to a peak of USD 580 in 20023. One interesting feature of the fresh pineapple market is the competition between producer countries and the reshaping in the geography of pineapple production: almost non-existent on the market in the late 80s, Costa Rica is today world's top exporter of fresh pineapples, with exports reaching 1.1 millions ton in 2006. The evolution of the world market for fresh pineapples also reflects the fierce battle that takes place between global agro-food giants (Del Monte, Chiquita, Dole, large retailers, to name but some). In this battle, innovation in a wide acceptance - varietal, logistical, technical - has been a key driver of change. A new driver seems to be gaining strength, as firms awaken to the advantages of using private standards as a strategic tool and to reassure anxious consumers. This shows through the explosion of private and business-to-business standards aimed at guaranteeing the quality/safety of food products. Varietal, logistical and standard related innovations play a crucial role in shaping the world pineapple market, but not only. They also determine in producer countries who will be able to supply and who will not. The aim of this article is to question the relevance of global value chain theory to understand the evolutions of the fresh pineapple market over the 40 past years. Using a historical framework, we identify the main actors, the leaders/pilots and the drivers of the fresh pineapple chain, and characterise the governance structure of this chain and its evolution over the long period. The paper is organized as follows: Section 1 presents the main concepts developed by the theory of global value chains to analy