Whereas the banana market traditionally shows a dip in the summer months, this year the market remains remarkably level. "The prices we are now seeing for green bananas are the best we have seen in years," says Hans Maagendans of Banafood Services GmbH in Straelen, Germany.
"In Ecuador, the growing conditions are not good at the moment. An average temperature of 22 degrees is too low for growing bananas. This results in a supply that is up to 25% lower than we are used to in this recovering spot market," continues the banana ripener.
"Ecuador has traditionally had a lot of sales in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine. Due to the war, a large part of these sales have disappeared. In the spring you could see that the spot market was at a significantly lower level, but that situation has now been reversed due to the lower production", says Hans.
According to Hans, the sales of bananas to the Dutch supermarkets are back at the pre-COVID level. "The last two years many people stayed at home during the summer holidays and that benefited the banana sales, which were up 10-15%. Now many people are on holiday abroad again and we are back to normal levels."
Banana prices have 'quietly' crept up by about ten cents per kilo in most supermarkets this year. "At the same time, bananas remain a relatively cheap item on the shelf. Due to the extremely dry weather, other fruits are actually on the high side, so that often benefits banana sales again."
For more information: 
Hans Maagendans
Banafood Services GmbH
Carl-Kühne Straße 7
47638 Straelen, Duitsland
[email protected]
www.banafood.eu