Bananas, plantains, yuca, malanga and a variety of tropical fruits and vegetables could be in short supply this fall because of excessive rain caused by an El Niño condition in South America and Central America, said Billy Mascari, vice president at Cedro Banana Distributors, New Haven, Conn.
Political unrest in Guatemala will only make matters worse by preventing containers of tropicals from reaching ports.
“That’s going to create a tight market, and it’s going to cause the prices to increase 20% to 25%,” Mascari said.
But the good news for Cedro’s customers is that the company anticipated the disruptions and made plans early this fall to find alternate suppliers to fill their needs.
Besides higher prices, “quality has been off a little,” Mascari said, so the company will partner with suppliers who will be able to meet Cedro’s high quality standards.
The supply disruptions couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“This is the time of year when we start gearing up on sourcing cooking bananas and tropical roots,” Mascari said.
Cedro sells to a number of Spanish and Latino community markets whose customers seek out green bananas and tropicals for holiday cooking.
“That’s a big item for us,” he said.
Ecuador is a major source of roots and bananas for the company, so Cedro was increasing its shipments from that country.
“I know, in a few weeks, the market is going to be very tight,” Mascari said in mid-October.
Cedro Banana Distributors has the support of partners like Dole Fresh Fruit, Chiquita, Del Monte and Fyffes who will help the company work through a potentially challenging season, Mascari said.
Cedro is a family operation. Mascari handles purchasing, sourcing and wholesale sales; his brother, Joe, is company president and handles retail sales; his fifth-generation nephew, Joseph, recently was promoted to vice president of operations; and his nephew, Jake, was named logistics manager.
His father, Joe Mascari Sr., serves as president of the company’s trucking division, Mascari Bros. Inc.
