"Difficult to change conventional banana market towards organic"

“The UK is a potential and interesting market for us, but for now it's only just starting. We notice that there is interest for Ecuadorian organic and fair trade bananas, however, it's difficult to get it all going. We aren't just looking for customers, but looking for customers that want to establish a partnership”, explains Francisco Riera Romero from Banabio SA.

“El Oro, the province where the company is based is known as a major area of banana production. Banabio is a group of small and medium organic and fair trade banana growers, with about 800 hectares of cultivation area. About 30 containers are shipped per week, but we are looking forward to increasing it, we are prepared for it because there are a number of growers waiting for us. Export mainly goes to Germany, USA and Russia", continues Francisco.

Francisco concludes: “We are always looking for new contacts, customers and producers. We help producers to receive the right certifications to be able to export the banana production as organic and/or fairtrade and to achieve higher quality products. At this moment there is so much conventional production available in the markets, it's difficult to have this changed. It takes a lot of time and money to turn this around.”

For more information:
Francisco Riera Romero
Banabio SA
Machala, El Oro, Ecuador
T: +34 699399955
E: francisco.riera@banabiosa.com
www.banabiosa.com