Bananas from Réunion are smaller, rarer and more expensive this year due to disease and the effects of Tropical Storm Fakir. Freckle disease has effected plantations for over a year and Storm Fakir has further devastated the plantations.
Producers are now faced with a shortage. A 5,000m2 terrain has been empty since the storm, one farmer explains that it is the first time they have seen so much water and wind and that the plants were uprooted. Another producer says that the trees will take six months to a year to get going again, resulting in a 30% decrease in their turnover.
Freckle disease only affects the banana skin, the flesh remains edible and perfectly safe to eat, but consumers are put off by the black marks. The Chamber of Agriculture is following the situation closely.