It is crucial for retailers to offer fair trade bananas to consumers, said Kim Chackal, director of sales and marketing at Quebec-based Equifruit, Inc.
“Banana farmers have been stuck in a cycle of generational poverty due to the unsustainably low prices commanded by retailers globally,” Chackal said. “Without paying farmers a sustainable wage, and investing in their communities, banana farmers will not be able to keep up and bananas might become obsolete.
Besides rising costs, Chackal said farmers face the climate crisis and they are battling Panama disease tropical race 4, a banana disease that irreversibly ravages their crops.
Established in 2006, Equifruit is Canada’s leading fair trade-certified banana importer.
While bananas are still a commodity marketed on low prices and often used as a loss-leader, there have been changes in the way bananas are marketed, Chackal said. Sustainability is becoming more and more important to consumers, she said.
“The biggest challenge in expanding banana consumption over the next 10 years might be convincing people to snack on bananas at home,” she said. “Bananas were a common snack to bring to the office, but with more hybrid work, sales have leveled off slightly.”
