Pacific Coast Eco Bananas director Dianne Sciacca says while there is a shift, she does not believe it is as great as some market reports state and that customers want assurance they are getting way they pay for.
“Certification is not the simple answer. I believe it could be greater and faster if customers could be certain about product integrity and understood why eco/organic foods cost more,” she said. “We are what we eat, therefore our environment plays an important role in our health as well as the other natural assets such as the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests. For too long we have degraded the very source of our food or human health. I don't know what it is going to take before as a population we accept/realise we can no longer expect it is okay to keep growing unsustainable food that is clearly impacting on our health.
Recently the company won the Environmental Award at the Hort Connections 2018 National Awards for Excellence held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in June. The Awards for Excellence acknowledge and recognise the outstanding contributions of individuals and companies to the horticulture industry.
Ms Sciacca adds that all of their consumer psychographic segmentation research – which is based upon different personality traits, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles of consumers - showed the consumer did not understand the cost of environmental farming and how that cost is directly correlated to or associated with protecting the environment now.
Pacific Coast Eco Bananas’s journey started in 1998 in developing the ecoganic farming system. Ms Sciacca says eco systems are constantly repairing and developing and it is all about increasing biodiversity.
“We entered the market with the wax tip in 2000 and brought other growers on board in 2001. Today 70 per cent of the original grower base is still with us,” Ms Sciacca said. “Ecoganic was always going to be a committed long-term strategy. If the system and its business model was not sustainable we would not have had the loyal commitment from our growers. The protocol provides an education programme for the farmer as a manager. The reward being the elimination of insecticides and minimum to no use of pesticides, for example fungicides, herbicides is an important achievement in protecting off farm natural assets such as the Great Barrier Reef as well as the on-farm ecosystem.”
Ms Sciacca adds that the feedback from the consumers have been that ecoganic taste sweeter and creamier, meaning “they taste like bananas used to taste”, while they also last longer and can be kept in the fridge.
“Some comments are: how come I can Eat Red Tip bananas but I cannot eat ordinary? A study done on our bananas with the use of an CSIRO human digester indicated Eco Banana were more digestible to the gut in a semi green state while banana grown for production needed to be in an overripe state to reach the same stage of digestibility. Slow foods or slow grown food in healthy soil provides many benefits.”
Growing conditions have been on par with previous years with no outbreaks of any pest affecting growth or quality. Pacific Coast Eco Bananas have a balanced ecosystem underpinned by low stress farming protocol.
Ms Sciacca admits it has taken years to develop but the rewards are paying off. Volumes are stable. It has taken over 16 years for the soil to recover from the previous industrial farming and reach optimum health and start increasing its organic carbon. Demand remains stable as there is a percentage of customers who are brand loyal.
“Recent product has been in line with our weather conditions given that bananas grow faster in the warmer months and our ecoganic low stress farming system,” she said. “Being a sustainable product and business we grow to market demand plus a percentage for market growth. We do not use any insecticides, miticides, or nematicides synthetic or organic on our soils and we do not have nematode, or rust trip problems.”
The company has been exporting into Hong Kong since 2009, and more recently Singapore, and it has been part of the process working with ABGC and industry consultants, to increase potential opportunities for other growers in the industry.
“Our market research indicated for Australian bananas to be successfully exported they would need to have a very strong USP or point of difference to compete with organic bananas grown a lot cheaper from third world countries,” Ms Sciacca said. “It is achievable but the probable potential in the next 10 years may only be about 15 per cent of the existing production and it will not be without challenges as the distribution channel for fresh bananas out of Australian has a lot of work to be done. We have found this to be our biggest hurdle in growing our eco export market into the Asia pacific region. The red tip ecoganic banana can play a strategic role in providing Australian grown bananas a position in the banana category in the Asia Pacific Region and we look forward to working with the industry and growers to achieve this."
For more information
Dianne Sciacca
Pacific Coast Eco Bananas
Phone: +61 7 4064 2452
info@eco-banana.com.au
www.eco-banana.com.au
Dianne Sciacca
Pacific Coast Eco Bananas
Phone: +61 7 4064 2452
info@eco-banana.com.au
www.eco-banana.com.au