Supermarkets seek Direct Purchase of Ecuadorian Bananas

Major supermarket chains in the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, and Italy seek to directly negotiate the purchase of Ecuadorian banana with local producers.

The new purchasing system, which is present in other countries like Colombia and Costa Rica, has become an international trend to strengthen the sale and consumption of fruit in the European Union (EU).

According to Eurostat (EU statistical office), the demand for bananas in this area has performed static since 2006, with an average of 5 million tons annually.

A request of English merchants recently arrived to Eduardo Ledesma’s office; president of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE). “The demand required is ten thousand boxes a week for a year. I have sent a list of ten associations that might be interested.”

Ledesma argues that the business proposals come from several chains like Tesco of Britain; Carrefour of France; Cassino of Italy; Rewe of Germany; and Walmart of the United States.

“They do not want to take over bananas trough exporting companies, but directly. That process avoids going through a chain of intermediation which costs them money. They can sell cheaper bananas and make people eat more and buy more,” said Ledesma.

To Richard Salazar, director of the Bananas Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ecuador becomes a more attractive market due to new regulations on the Banana Bill which encourages small and medium banana producers to export their own fruit before USA and Europe importers. (FO)

Source: Daily Expreso