Banana groups from key Latin American countries have praised multinational distributors Fresh Del Monte, Dole, and Fyffes for increasing prices in the North American market.

Producers and exporters of Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, who on Oct. 27, 2021, signed the Great Regional Agreement for Shared Responsibility, requested that European, British and North American supermarkets to review the prices of bananas in accordance with
the international reality of global cost increases and higher demands for sustainability.

"We highlight the initiatives set by Fresh Del Monte to increase its prices by USD 0.05 per pound, Dole an increase of USD 1.61 per box and Fyffes to increase of USD 1.60 per box for conventional bananas in the North American market," the Latin American Banana Cluster said.

"We expect similar reactions from the other markets to compensate for the overall situation according to the implications of the different particularities of each of these
markets; only in this way will it be possible to maintain the true social and environmental objective that is sought with banana production."

The Cluster also urged consumers, supermarkets, importers and all those involved in the value chain to "act accordingly".

It said there must be an awareness of the impact caused by the different externalities and whose costs cannot be beared by the producers alone but must be shared by all the members of the value chain.

"Because if the necessary price increase is not forthcoming, the sustainability of bananas will be threatened," the Cluster said.

Latin American banana exporters have long complained about stagnant or even falling prices amid rapidly rising production costs.