HE Summer It has never been a good season for him. banana. High temperatures advance production and force farmers to look for alternatives to release fruit. The situation has worsened this year with the change in the weather and the rise of thermometers since last October. Heat brought production forward and the market could not absorb it.has caused banana growers to discard more than five million kilograms of bananas so far this year. “The fruit has led to a higher-than-normal production at this time of year, and the fruit has increased,” says Domingo Martín, president of the Association of Canary Islands Banana Producer Organizations (Asprocan).
Overproduction drives the search for new outlets. Which one? To try to maintain competitive prices on the Peninsula, producers first resort to selling to other nearby markets such as Morocco, but the rest are withdrawn from circulation. representative of the canary banana trees, most of the volume rendered useless becomes “cattle fodder”. In addition, part of the production is donated to non-profit organizations. “We donate to the Food Bank as much as we can”but now they can’t because they have volunteers on vacation,” explains Martín.
There are years when the numbers are more striking. In both 2016 and 2017, more than 15 million bananas were withdrawn from the market, and even images of fruit residues thrown around the Islands in those years appeared in the media. The pica withdrawn from circulation by many fruits has been reduced in recent years and does not exceed ten million kilograms per year on average.
volcano effect
Asprocan’s figures reflect the increase in production. This year in week 30, penultimate week of JulyCompared to the same week of 2022, 54 million kilos more were shipped to the national market.. This figure is particularly high due to the impact of the eruption of La Palma volcano with the loss of 600 hectares of crops on Isla Bonita, but the available data is also higher if the 2021 figures are analyzed. In the aforementioned week of 2023, production is already eight and a half million more than in the same period two years ago.
There is more weight than usual due to the weather, and bananas have never been the head fruit of the summer shopping cart. Theo Hernando, Secretary General of the Canary Islands Farmers and Ranchers Association (Asaga), said, “The star fruits of summer are melons, watermelons and peaches,” and added that the school holiday puts the banana in second place. . “Overproduction combined with low demand causes prices to fall.“, he explains. Peaks are precisely made to prevent the price from continuing to fall as a result of high supply and low demand.
Last year, there was a shortage of products due to the impact of the explosion, which caused prices to rise.. Data from Asprocan shows that the average price of bananas from the Canary Islands in the Peninsula peaked in August 2022, with an average price of 3.29 euros per kilo. That same month, the farmer came to buy up to 1.36 euros per kilo, and now, according to Martín, banana trees sell for 90 cents a kilo. “Manufacturers are complaining because they can’t even cover production costs at these prices and they sell at a loss,” complains Asprocan’s president.
In the context of inflation, this rise in prices has caused many consumers to buy bananas, the main competitor to Canarian bananas. The imported product is cheaper and does not meet the European standards demanded by Canarian producers, so it “does not play by the same rules,” according to Hernando. Asaga representative warrants that the island product complies with environmental, labor and phytosanitary regulations that are not otherwise complied with. “They allow a product that does not comply with the rules of the canary banana to enter the market on a large scale.“, criticism.
They demand from the industry a genuine community regulation that allows the same production conditions to be established for all products sold within the European Union, regardless of origin.
Farmers get about 90 cents per kilo of bananas. Producers came to take up to 1.36 euros per kilo in August 2022, when production was lower.
- 10 million retirees a year
The withdrawal of the banana crane, i.e. a large number of fruits, from circulation is usually around 10 million kilograms per year. More than five million rubbish have already been thrown away this year.
This year, in the 30th week, the penultimate week of July, 54 million kilos have already been shipped to the national market compared to the same week of 2022.