"Our bananas are packed and palletized in Muchachita and TropiFruit brand boxes," says Jose Hernandez with Bananera Muchachita. "Packing is followed by a few hours of stabilizing the fruit in our forced air coolers and then loaded into controlled atmosphere containers that take almost two days to get to the border and into our warehouse, located in the McAllen Produce Terminal."
Banera Muchachita commercializes in Mexico city’s Produce terminal “Central de Abasto” and supplies different clients from all over Mexico. Within the US, bananas are distributed to the East Coast and some Central parts of the country. European exports are handled by Chiquita, as Muchachita's farms and packing house obtained the Global Gap Certificate last year.
A good year
"This year is going to be good since we are harvesting last year’s fruit and Mother Nature was humble with us. We are seeing production volumes growing constantly and the producers are updating their methods for handling fruit at harvest and constantly upgrading their procedures through certifications."
Prices tend to be higher first quarter
"During the first four months of the year, bananas are susceptible to scars," shared Hernandez. It’s the time of year when we get all the rain and clouds, making it difficult to harvest the fruit with good maturity, so prices tend to be high. During the summer months, prices are a bit more stable since there is more fruit in the market. In the fall, prices tend to be higher than in summer, but you never know with mother nature.
Foam collar
Hernandez goes on to explain how the good eating quality of Muchachita's bananas is developed. "We take care of the quality and nutrients with a very strict system. When the banana tree gives birth our team of experts start the nursing process through a cycle of growth. First they cut off the last two clusters from the bunch, forcing all nutrients to distribute evenly to the remaining clusters of that bunch. Then they start deflowering the fingers, followed by placing a foam collar through the clusters around the banana bunch. This to avoid any friction marks during the growing and harvesting cycle, finishing it off with a blue bag to protect them from insects and other pests. In fact, we are the only producers in the area that are using this foam collar from the early stage of growth onward. Most producers use it during the harvest stage only. 
Consumption is steady
“Bananas are a family fruit, showing stable consumption numbers," mentioned Hernandez. During the summer months, consumption may vary a bit as people have so many fruit choices and the kids are out of school. However, there is always a banana in the cereal! The average American consumes about 30 lbs. per year or so.”
Bananera Muchachita is a vertically integrated family company located in McAllen Texas, with over 600 acres of banana plantations in Teapa Tabasco, growing bananas for three generations, while sharing with commercial partners in the state of Chiapas as well.
For more information:
Jose Hernandez
Bananera Muchachita
Tel: 956-631-0444