The Peruvian firm brings over 500 producers together and has 650 hectares devoted to the cultivation of organic Fairtrade bananas certified by GlobalGAP.
Given the significant devaluation of the Euro and discontent on the part of the company with the FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organization), APPBOSA has decided to diversify its customer base.
"Until recently, the FLO only certified small producers, but recently it has also certified some of the country's large banana plantations, which we are not happy about. We have therefore chosen to diversify with the certification called Small Producers Seal (SPP) and to sell to Chiquita for the U.S. market. We obtain the same price, and we thus don't see any differences between FLO and Chiquita," states Aingeru.
SAMAN Fair Trade, APPBOSA's own brand
The year 2015 has started on a very positive note for APPBOSA. "We've had a really good start, with a record production and exporting between 19 and 20 containers per week; in 2015, we hope to reach 850,000 boxes," affirms Aingeru, who mentions that the annual production record is 785,000 boxes, achieved in 2012, with production dropping to 650,000 boxes in 2013 due to pest issues.
This is a year of changes and innovations for APPBOSA. From February, the company will start marketing the world's first SPP-certified bananas (with the Small Producers Seal).
"Furthermore, since October 2014 we have become a cooperative to pay less tax, thanks to an agreement with SUNAT in 2013, which will allow us as partners to share profits. On 5 February, we'll celebrate APPBOSA's 12th anniversary and $ 200,000 profit will be shared between all partners," concludes Aingeru.
Aingeru García
Manager of APPBOSA
M: +969543897
appbosa@yahoo.com
www.appbosa.org