The loss of production caused by the volcano eruption on the island of La Palma generated a serious drop in banana exports as consumer households chose to abandon the consumption of bananas due to the lack of products and high prices. Returning in 2023 to consumption levels prior to the eruption seemed complicated, as there's also been a sharp decrease in the consumption of fruit in households.
In 2022, third-country bananas sold in Spain reached, for the first time, similar levels to the volumes of Canary bananas sold, but they were not able to maintain a rising market. Many consumers opted for other products, and total banana and plantain sales in Spain fell by 9%, the largest decrease experienced in the last 10 years.
In this negative context, production achieved a constant record level in 2023. At the end of August, the Canary Islands' total banana production surpassed that of 2022 by 75 million kilograms and that of 2021, prior to the volcano eruption, by 20 million kilos. There was also a rebound in summer, as in this 10-week period production reached an unseen volume that was 13 million kilograms higher than the historical average of the sector.
Banana sales increase, in contrast to the rest of the fruits
The first achievement obtained by the sector's actions has been to recover the growth of the market. At the end of August, the 2023 banana and plantain market had grown by 13%, which was undoubtedly achieved thanks to having marketed 64 million kilograms of bananas from the Canary Islands more than in 2022 and 11 million more than in 2021.
Production levels increased so the sector has tried to quickly recover the foreign markets that had to be suspended because of the loss caused by the volcano eruption. So far in 2023, exports to other countries exceed 5 million kilograms.
Market crisis management is a responsible and necessary measure in the face of cost and production increases.
A third line of action, which is an exceptional line of action but is used by all fruit productions in Spain, is the crisis management measures recognized by the EU for agricultural products, consisting of making free donations to food banks, making compost, or feeding livestock.
These crisis measures help producers avoid the unaffordable indebtedness of packaging and export costs of volumes that are not covered by market purchases.
For more information:
Plátano de Canarias
https://platanodecanarias.es
