The decision of German retailer Aldi, who alone influences the price of bananas all over Europe, to lower the price to €14.21 in January-March 2014, together with the prospect of Del Monte replacing fruit from Ecuador with produce from Honduras, are worrying the Ecuadorian banana sector.
FreshPlaza talked to Raffaele Lasciarrea, marketing and sales manager for I.L.FR.ES., a leading company importing and distributing tropical fruit, for a comment.
"We do not have enough elements to confirm or deny the banana price situation in Europe. Our monitoring unit focuses on domestic retailers, where sales are promoted with special offers and therefore consumers perceive prices as low."
"There are more and more requests of cutting prices to €0.99/kg. In general, the retail banana market has always been calm in the weeks right after Christmas."
I.L.FR.ES. is working with Del Monte bananas (as official distributor). "Even if we wanted to, we would not know anything about Ecuador because our produce comes from other regions like Costa Rica. At the moment no drop in supplies or dramatic changes in prices are expected."
"We must say that currently the product is being sold off anyway by some distributors to keep their share of the market. Nobody talks about it but everybody knows what is going on. Competition is fierce in Italy, and the situation in Europe is not much different," concludes Lasciarrea.
Contacts:
I.L.FR.ES. di Lasciarrea R. & C. S.r.l.
Via Copenaghen, 7
Zona artigianale – Bisceglie (BT)
Tel.: (+39) 080 3925085
Fax: (+39) 080 3922162
Email: ilfres.srl@gmail.com
Web: www.ilfres.com