Cold weather, school holidays & low veg prices hurt Polish banana market

Low temperatures, school holidays and lower vegetable prices have affected the current banana market in Poland. 

"The colder temperatures of -3/-4 degrees are not helping banana sales, along with the school holidays in different parts of Poland which is influencing the sale of all products. Bananas are one of the most popular fruits for parents to buy for their children and although it shouldn't be such a high factor, it is playing an important role at the moment." said Dominika Wiącek from Fresh World.

Dominika said that vegetable prices are dropping to a level where consumers are choosing to buy more vegetables over fruit and many of the chains are busy running various vegetable promotions as a result. She said that if consumers do decide to go for fruit, they are choosing apples because of their lower prices. 

Although it is not uncommon for banana prices to rise during this period, spot prices for yellow bananas out of Ecuador went up quite a bit in week 6, between $10.50-11.00, while in week 7 they have already reached levels of USD12.00-12.50 FOB and further increases are expected.

"Importers and producers are focused on earning extra money during this time of year to make up the margin for lost profits during the second half of the year when the prices are at a lower level and more stable. Something making the situation more difficult is that the yellow banana pricing situation is not being reflected on the Polish market." said Dominika.

In response to a recent article on Freshplaza about baby and red bananas being a niche product for Poland, Dominika said that Fresh World actually started supplying these types of bananas a couple of years ago in central Poland, with much success, and they have become a regular product offered in the central region around Warsaw. 

"The center of Poland is more affluent (especially around Warsaw) so people are more inclined to buy novelties and different choices than other parts of Poland. Baby bananas are a very delicate product and the red bananas were especially appealing to our consumers, based on their appearance and slight raspberry flavour. Since we brought them out on the market place, we have been supplying them on a weekly basis to chain supermarkets and there have been frequent promotions to increase their popularity even more." said Dominika.