Supplies of fair trade bananas are currently steady coming into North America.
“We have no problems at this time with supplies,” says Stefan Misse of Discovery Organics based in Vancouver, B.C. “And we’re seeing similar volumes available as this time last year.”
Misse notes that supplies are coming from Ecuador regularly though he adds that internal issues within Ecuador politically are making it challenging getting the fruit to the port in a timely fashion for sea freight departures. Meanwhile competing product is available from both Mexico and Peru.
Demand continues to increase
Discovery, which has set pricing as part of its fair trade product contract that’s negotiated annually, has seen continued growth and interest in its fair trade and certified organic program with bananas from consumers and retailers. In fact, Fairtrade International reports in its Monitoring the Scope and Benefits of Fairtrade Bananas report that in 2017, fair trade banana sales had increased 11 percent from 2016. The same report notes that the number of organic certified banana sales had also increased in 2017 by 17 percent over 2016.
“One of our biggest challenges is to convince retailers that selling bananas above $1.00/lb. is okay and they will still sell as they are a popular item,” adds Misse.
For more information:
Stefan Misse
Discovery Organics
Tel: +1 (604) 299-1684
stefan@discoveryorganics.ca
www.discoveryorganics.ca