Banana

“Our brands differentiate through our strong commitment to the producers and our strong ethical commitment through the entire supply chain”.  Agrofair was established in the Netherlands in 1996 with the objective of creating direct market access to Europe for small farmers. “We are primarily a production and distribution company, since 35% of our stakeholders are banana producers”, points out its managing director, Hans-Willem van der Waal. Agrofair has defended a complete fair trade concept in its entire organization since it was founded. “We are not just importing Fair Trade and organic products, our entire supply chain responds to the same concept” explains Hans-Willem. The company also answers to the IFS protocol, in the high level category since November. Almost 100% of its farmers are also GlobalGAP certified. As proof of its strong commitment to ethical trade in bananas and sub-tropical fruit, Agrofair received the Coop Swiss supermarkets’ “Natura 2012” award. “We are proud of this recognition, a great award to our engagement with sustainable development and to our responsible support of small farmers”. With 4 million boxes imported annually, bananas represent more than 90% of Agrofair’s business. They come from the major banana producing countries of Latin America, like Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Other ethical trade products are citrus and various tropical fruits like pineapples, mangoes and coconuts. “We decided to stop with organic mangoes, since they represent a higher plant health and economic risk for our growers. It is a true ethical concern to limit our farmers’ risk”. 50% of volumes are both organic and Fair Trade, to respond to the preferences of the consumers and to the choice of the supermarkets to market them in the same “sustainable” segment. Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the UK are the major receivers of Agrofair bananas. Demand also exists on other European markets but still represents smaller volumes. “There is a potential demand for ethical bananas in the whole of Europe, but it is often limited by the price” considers Hans-Willem. Agrofair also imports 3 to 4 containers of bio & Fair Trade pineapples every week. Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica are the main origins. 90% of the volumes are shipped by container, for more flexibility between the producer and the customer. Reefer shipments are still used on the direct routes, due to the faster transit time (just 14 days from Peru, instead of 21 to 24 by container). Agrofair bananas are popular under the brands “EkoOké” for both organic and Fair Trade and “Oké” for fair trade, also “Altromercato” in Italy (with the exclusive partner CTM) and “All Good” (with New Zealand partner All Good). “Elephant” is used for conventional bananas, which are also highly appreciated on the markets supplied by Agrofair. The organization has its own technical team in Latin America, based in Panama, in order to assist the growers with integrated quality management. The team focusses on constant improvements with implementation of the multiple quality certificates, organic crop management, research and productivity, traceability, packing and logistics. “Oké is viewed as a direct link between the small producer and the retailer”. PE

 

A focus on quality has helped Ecuadorian banana firm Delindecsa develop into one of the country’s leading exporters over the last 10 years. Created in 2003, Ecuadorian banana company Delindecsa carried out its first shipment of fruit of 20,000 boxes to Germany in week 43 of that year. Under the leadership of Dr Jorge Manobanda Cedeño, the Guayaquil-based firm quickly became established as the company with the greatest rate of growth in the Ecuadorian banana sector, shipping over 100,000 boxes per week. In 2013, Delindecsa exported an estimated 3.7m boxes of primarily premium bananas to Germany, Russia and the Mediterranean region.  Speaking to Eurofresh Distribution, a spokesperson for the company revealed that Delindecsa was anticipating further export volume growth of 8% for the 2014 season. “We will continue working on the basis of providing high quality fruit and efficient services for all our customers, so everyone is satisfied,” the spokesperson said.
“Our production and service to our customers has led to us successfully achieving recognition for meeting the quality and volume demands of our clients. “We export all around the world, but a large part of the fruit that we export comes with GlobalG.A.P. certification for bananas, which gives a guarantee of our social and environmental commitments. “We also count on constant quality verification of the fruit through the hiring of international inspectors who provide quality inspection services for packers at the moment of shipment and arrival at destination,” the spokesperson added.

Expoglobal, with a 40-year track record dedicated to exporting high quality Ecuadorian bananas, are now increasing their penetration in international markets.  In the last 3 they have opened up doors in the Middle East and China, where prospection is still in the fledgling stage, but with great expectations of success. Expoglobal currently continue to focus on their target of exporting 100% of their produce.  “This year has been rather complicated due to bad prices in Ecuador and the international markets in the first semester, with heavy rains in Ecuador and lower production in general after winter. Despite all this, we were able to keep up our export volumes in a dwindling market.  Our sales in the emerging markets of the Middle East, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and China allowed us to diversify our markets and reach 20 different ports in 2013”, explains Mathieu Mandon. The Don Alejo brand is present in most international markets, communicating the company’s values and the good quality of their bananas. The security of working with a producer/ exporter was very important for Expoglobal’s customers last year.  “This is the secret: working really hard to maintain loyalty and our customers’ acknowledgement of Expoglobal S.A.”, adds Mandon, revealing that estimates for 2014 foresee a 25% increase in sales.  “We shall continue to grow in emerging markets while also consolidating our presence in Europe.  Although Ecuador is not party to the treaty Peru and Colombia signed with the European Union, it still means that the price will gradually rise in comparison with our Peruvian and Colombian colleagues”, explains Mandon.  “As we are producers and exporters, we have great quality control of our production and thanks to this we have achieved a positive balance, despite all the difficulties”, declares Mathieu Mandon.  “Getting a foot in the door in China was an important achievement, which shows the headway being made in our market diversification strategy.  Rainfall is our in-house company policy of having several markets, both small and large.  All of them are important to us.”  Today Expoglobal ships its fruit to 19 different ports worldwide.