"It seems like people are eating more fruit"

"We're growing nicely, so have to expand," says Robert Greeve of Anaco & Greeve International. This Dutch trading company specializes in overseas products. Robert says this growth is partly due to existing clients taking more volume. "I have the impression that people are eating more fruit. The figures support that. A banana is a relatively cheap piece of fruit per kg. That makes it easy to buy an extra banana if you want to eat healthily."

Robert Greeve

"There's a trend towards eating healthier anyway." There's growth across the board. New clients like small retailers and foodservice businesses are driving this. The spot market also plays a role. "Contrary to expectations, there's growth there too." This mainly concerns wholesale markets and retailers who need bananas now and then. But Anaco & Greeve has also noticed increasing sales of organic bananas.

Expansion
Anaco & Greeve is expanding its ripening cells by a capacity of 12,000 boxes. This work will be completed in April. Then the company will be able to ripen just under 50,000 boxes of bananas a week. "Energy use is a major focus of the new build," says Robert. This applies to both the machine and ripening rooms.

For example, the fans' fins design means they need less energy to move the air. Solar panels are being installed, which will supply power. The company designed the cells in such a way that mangos and avocados can also be ripened. Anaco & Greeve is, therefore, keeping the possibility of perhaps ripening of these types of fruit in the future open.

Challenges
This trading company, however, also sees challenges. Robert mentions the corona crisis as one of these. "Sales to the foodservice industry have plummeted." He says this mostly impacted them in March and April 2020. Now, although everyone's adjusted to the situation, wholesale markets are seeing falling sales. In contrast, Anaco & Greeve's retail sales are up.

Robert adds that the November hurricanes in Honduras and Guatemala decreased banana supplies to the North American market. "Then things start to shift. North Americans are now buying bananas in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador. If all goes well, the Guatemalan and Honduran plantations will be back into production by the summer." This development affected prices in North America, but not those in Europe.

Brexit
Brexit's effects are another relevant aspect. "There are many," says Robert. Anaco & Greeve is affected most by the increased administrative burden, costs of documents, and double import duties. When importing bananas from third countries, import duties are first paid upon arrival in the Netherlands. And, when part-loading, are levied again in the UK. "They're working on this problem. So hopefully, things will improve soon; but it's not easy now. We see this in the sales too."

Logistics-wise, Anaco & Greeve hasn't experienced any adverse effects from Brexit. There's, however, another logistical problem affecting the banana trade - container congestion, mainly in China. "Container transport is imbalanced. There are too many containers in one place and too few in another." That means container transport prices are rising. "That's because of COVID-19. I expect this to improve towards the end of the year."

Plastic
"Fewer plastic bags and more bands are being used. That saves on plastic usage," says Robert about the increasing focus on reducing plastic use, also for bananas. It starts in the countries of origin. Growers wrap the large harvested banana bunches in plastic. Robert says they're looking for more sustainable alternatives like biodegradable plastic. "Trials are underway, but it's all still in development. I think producers will take the first step. We'll consider how to reduce plastics used in the boxes," he concludes.