Unlike at this time last year when hurricane activity caused some disruption to banana supplies, the current supply is moving along well, with no issues to report from either weather or other concerns. The one exception is the Saba banana variety, which is currently in short supply.
"Banana supplies are good," said Katelyn Bain of Coast Tropical in California. "There have been no weather issues and boat arrivals are unimpeded. Guatemala is a strong supplier right now. The bananas are grown in a tropical zone within the country and production remains consistent year-round."
"Saba bananas are however in short supply currently," she continued. "For the past few weeks, harvesting appears to have slowed and there are not many coming in on the boats. All distributors are having the same supply issues and there has been no explanation as to the reason. The supply on all other banana varieties remains good."
Demand softens at this time of year
Overall, consistent supply and demand is keeping things moving along as expected for this time of year. Bain noted that with the proliferation of summer fruits, bananas are experiencing a lapse in attention as consumers have other fruit options at this time of year.
"Demand is quite typical for this time of year," she noted. "During the California summer, there is an abundance of other fruits, such as stone fruits and melons, and demand for bananas is generally a little slower. We tend to see demand for bananas peak during the winter months because there's not a lot of other fruit around at that time."
Hot weather in Europe also a factor
Another contributing factor to the weak demand is the hot weather in Europe which has slowed the market down. Combined with the school holidays, consumers are buying less bananas, causing prices to fall. This has created a headache for South American growers who have been trying to keep fruit moving by offering low prices.
"The summer demand is terrible," observed Luis Orrantia of Tropical Specialists. "It's been very hot in Europe and consumers are not buying bananas. In Ecuador, growers have been lowering prices to try to keep fruit moving. However, once the prices dropped, a flood of buyers came in to fill commitments and prices went up again in a matter of hours. It's been a very complicated market with Ecuador's official banana price also being undercut at times. Sizing profiles are a little smaller too due to the cooler seasonal weather, further complicating the market. Overall quality is very good out of Ecuador however, with the country prized for producing to a high standard."
For more information:
Katelyn Bain
Coast Tropical
Tel: +1 (650) 588-0707
Luis Orrantia
Tropical Specialists, LLC
Tel: +1 (305) 456-4997