Last season was very unstable as far as banana prices were concerned, with very high and quite low peaks; however, Claudia Gomez, of Novamerc, believes that the price falls were bearable. The counterpart, she says, was that there were fewer orders than usual, especially in the conventional banana sector, which caused many producers to convert their plantations to organic production. "This may cause organic prices to fall in the next season, since the supply will increase and there is not enough awareness about the benefits of consuming chemical-free fruits."
Claudia tells us that back when she started exporting, "the orders were made by phone and the fruit was evaluated next to the ship. It was a totally different and more difficult time. Nowadays, with the internet, everything is within reach. We started exporting under a brand owned by a German company; in fact, we have been working with them for 25 years and I can even say that we are the oldest company exporting conventional bananas to them."
"They have introduced their products in markets such as Russia, China and Turkey under their own brands, Muse and Silverfruit. This has led them to export up to 50,000 boxes of conventional bananas per week.
"About 10 years ago, we started exporting baby and red bananas to Russia due to the high demand for these gourmet varieties in this particular market. Currently, we are trying to reach the Chinese market with them. It was also a few years ago when we decided to start exporting organic bananas under our Silverfruit brand. At first, we exported only 2 containers, but this figure started increasing and we reached 20 in 2018," says Gómez.
For 2019, Novamerc has new projects focused on certifications. It wants, in a certain way, to "educate" its producers about their importance when striving for a better future. "That is why we have tried to convince them that they should think big, helping them with our qualified staff acting as internal auditors for several standard. We even pay the cost of these certifications, so that they don't feel limited when considering whether they should do it or not. Right now, we are even struggling to reduce the supply volumes, but in the future, we want people to be able to say that this female-run company managed to do great things with small producers in an evolving world when it comes to business."
A matriarchy in a male-dominated sector
Novamerc is a family business run by women that started selling bananas for Ecuador's domestic market in 1993. It all started with the father of the current owners, who died leaving a name to the company so that his family could fulfil his dream: the marketing of bananas. This name was Silverfruit, which today is just the name of its main brand, since when the mother handed out the company to her daughters, the firm's name had to be changed to Novamerc.
Claudia Gómez is truly passionate about the sector in which she works. She studied agriculture at the El Zamorano Agricultural School and once graduated she took over the family business, buying from producers and also growing bananas in a plantation that she, her mother and her sisters inherited from their father. Currently she and her 3 sisters are in charge of the company, a matriarchy that in addition to being run by women, has around 70% of female staff in their offices.
Novamerc (Silverfruit) will be present at the Fruit Logistica fair, in Berlin, in Hall 23, Stand D-11.
For more information:
Claudia Gomez Broos - Commercial and Operations Manager
Novamerc
Ecuador
T: +593994763462
E: clagomez@silverfruit.com.ec y clagomez10@hotmail.com
www.silverfruit.com.ec