Philippine bananas are very sweet and prized by many, so there is high demand all over the world. China is obviously a big market along with other Asian countries, but shipments reach as far as New Zealand and Middle East, sometimes beyond. Transit times fluctuate depending on the distance, local sanitary processes and potential Customs delays etc, but many of these destination Countries also store the fruit for up to 2 weeks.
"All of these factors need to be considered when choosing the right ethylene removal sachet", says Brent Rogers, Air Filtration Specialist of the Barcelona based company Bioconservación. The Spanish company has been pioneering BION Ethylstopper together with their trusted partner as first to market in Philippines.
"In the Philippine banana market, we were the first ethylene management technology used. Based in Davao, our partner Spectrum Scientific Corporation has been supporting the local market since 2008. I travel often to Davao to visit customers, and many of them have been there from the start".
Nowadays Bioconservación is a major supplier of sachets to the Philippine Banana Industry, from Multi-National companies to Independent Exporters. According to Brent Rogers, the good teamwork of Spectrum and Bioconservacion, in order to build interest and get trials going, was the key to success. "We held an Ethylene Banana Symposium in Davao. This was an invitation event for the whole Banana Industry where they got to understand the science behind ethylene damage on mature green bananas. Attendees were also able to see the great results we had achieved over the 12 month period. The conclusion was ethylene management was vital".
"In fact, the use of sachets reduces the incidents of 'soft green', 'self-ripes" and rots/moulds, but after the ripening process, a more even ripening is noticeable as well", he adds.
According to Brent Rogers, "The application of these solutions allows the Philippine producers and exporters to be more competitive but everyone around the world is cottoning on to the benefits of ethylene removal. Soon, ethylene removal will be a standard part of the supply chain, so we'll have a level playing field. What our technology is doing is allowing the Philippine Banana Industry to reach newer distant markets, whilst offering their current market an even higher quality banana".
For further information:
Miriam Bonilla
Bioconservación
Avda. Diagonal 474 6° , 3°
Barcelona, Spain.
T: + 34 932371362