A U.K.-based grower-importer of Ecuadorian bananas has spoken candidly about the potential competitive impacts of the proposed merger between Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB) and Fyffes Plc (ESM: FFY). In a statement prepared for www.freshfruitportal.com, BanaBay managing director Mark O'Sullivan says the new organization would likely be slower to react to market needs, and more effects of its power would be felt by growers than consumers.

O'Sullivan says the marketplace shouldn't expect any immediate changes if the merger is approved, and he is actually positive about the potential impact on his company once ChiquitaFyffes has restructured.

"Obviously the potential merger of Fyffes and Chiquita is going to create the biggest banana brand in the world. We don't see that the U.K. would be too affected by this change as Chiquita already work with Total Produce and have done for a number of years, but obviously [the] impact will vary in different regions," he said.

"If the merger goes ahead, we are unlikely to see major changes within the first 12 months, as merging companies of this size is immensely complex and we would expect consolidation and effective global restructuring to occur to allow synergies to emerge.

"How will prices be affected by this? Less competition often means price rises in any marketplace. However, there are many more factors at play influencing banana prices, not least growing conditions."

He says when consumers are offered choice they are often prepared to pay a higher price for premium products, but in the current market consumers are often 'fobbed off' with lower quality banana so lager retailers can meet demand for lower prices.

"This is where we believe BanaBay can compete with the 'big brands' – our focus is on quality and taste of our fruit and also on flexible customer service.

"Big is not always beautiful, we believe we can take advantage of this merger to differentiate BanaBay as a new brand that is agile and responsive to customers, rather than having to deliver a 'one size fits all' service. Our aim is to deliver consistently outstanding quality of produce and meet the specific requirements of customers in different marketplaces.

"The merger of these two giants will create a powerful, but unwieldy organisation potentially less able to react quickly to customers and guarantee quality of produce and reliability of service."

He says BanaBay also has the great advantage of being a grower and an importer, allowing it to exercise control across the supply chain.

"To date, our 'fresh' approach is yielding excellent results, as evidenced by our rapid growth and continued expansion into new markets worldwide," O'Sullivan says.

"Will the merger impact negatively on growers? Potentially yes. Buying power for the new brand would be increased, whilst the number of customers available to growers would be reduced, so we would envisage more of an impact for growers than for end consumers."

Chiquita and Fyffes have also announced the waiting period for U.S. antitrust review expired on Monday.

"Expiration of the waiting period satisfies a condition to the closing of the transaction," the two companies said in a release.

"The transaction remains subject to other customary closing conditions, including, among others, certain additional regulatory clearances and approval by the shareholders of both Chiquita and Fyffes."

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