Bananas with a mission

Longo's Equifruit banana display.
Longo's Equifruit banana display.
(Photo courtesy of Equifruit)

Bananas are so ubiquitous that consumers barely give them a second thought. They’re also highly popular, available year-round and cheap.

But what many consumers don’t know is that, behind the scenes, there are myriad farmers working under unfair labor practices, in terrible conditions, with a lack of security and insufficient income. But several companies are working to change that. 

Equifruit in Montreal, Canada, represents five global fair trade banana cooperatives in Mexico, Columbia, Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador, and is working to move their fruits into as many stores — and homes — as possible. The company works hard at changing perceptions and educating shoppers. 

“We want consumers to realize there’s a reason bananas are so cheap,” says Kim Chackal, director of sales and marketing.  Two years ago, Equifruit changed its marketing. “We realized consumers responded to our simple messaging like ‘Bananas shouldn’t be cheap,’” she said. “We all like to save money, but no one likes to save money at the expense of another human being.”

Instead of taking a heavy-handed approach with its messaging, however, Equifruit infuses its marketing with humor and a dash of cheekiness, referring to itself as a “banana badass.” This is “to show we’re the underdog banana brand in this big industry,” Chackal says.

Equifruit's bananas also feature silly claims on the band wrapped around them, such as ‘The only banana to reverse aging.’ 

“We’re saying we’re a different banana brand rather than using a loudspeaker,” says Chackal.

Point-of-sale materials are fun, too, and simple. One features an illustration of an orange speaking to a banana and the orange saying “Why fair trade?” with the banana responding, “Because farmers need to get paid.” 

“We keep it short and sweet,” Chackal said.

Working with retailers

Equifruit's mission is to inform retailers and consumers about the difference they can make when buying fair trade bananas, emphasizing that, for a typical household, going fair trade means an increased cost of just $8 to $10 per year.

For retailers, however, “it’s a big scary change for them to change the price of their bananas,” Chackal says.

She’s been working on this for years, and has seen a shift in the past two or three, especially with younger buyers at retail, “and it’s much easier to convince them to make the change, “ she says. “Younger generations are willing to pay a little bit more [and] see an opportunity to position themselves as a more fair trade retailer.”

Another change at Equifruit in recent years is the market the company is now targeting. It’s going after the big grocery chains in order to make more of an impact than with smaller stores. But it’s difficult to convince big chains, Chackal says, because “they’re so fixed on low prices for bananas that they can’t imagine breaking that strategy.” 

“But we’ve shown you can raise the price on bananas, and if the quality is there, which it is, the consumer is willing to pay a little bit more,” she points out.

Longo Brothers Fruit Market (Vaughan, Ontario) has been working with Equifruit for more than five years.

The retailer, which has 38 stores in the greater Toronto area, has a banana offering that’s entirely fair trade, and organic sales make up about 30% of the category, “which is roughly double what you would see with a traditional offering,” says Mimmo Franzone, vice president of merchandising. “Our original fair trade offering was organic, so we have educated enough about the program so the early adopters continue to purchase organic, fair trade fruit.” Education is key, though. 

“We started with education at store-level, ensuring our guests understood the changes and benefits to our program,” Franzone said. “We continue to have eye-catching, in-store POS, which communicates our entire banana program. Social posts, sustainability reports and our biweekly flyer are also ways we continue to reach and educate our guests about the program.”

And for Longo’s customers, the price differential is not a problem, he says, and he continues to put a big focus on bananas. “We have our bananas front and center in our produce departments, so have special merchandising on a day-to-day basis. Along with the large displays and extraverted POS, they tend to be the spotlight of the department.”

River Valley Co-op in western Mass., uses compelling signage to promote bananas from Equal Exchange.   Photo courtesy of Equal Exchange
River Valley Co-op in western Mass.,
uses compelling signage to
promote bananas from ​​​​​​Equal Exchange.  
Photo courtesy of Equal Exchange

Targeting the small retailer

The mission of Equal Exchange Produce in West Bridgewater, Mass., is similar to Equifruit's, in that it’s aiming to promote fair trade and organic banana growers. But there is one difference: Equal Exchange is looking to sell largely to alternative stores like food co-ops or specialty grocers. The company represents just under 900 small-scale farmers and imports their products. “We’re trying to find people willing to talk about a higher-priced banana,” says President Nicole Vitello.

The company targets its marketing to two months, October, which is co-op month, and March, which “is a good time of the year because there are not a lot of other produce conversations happening,” Vitello explains.

Earlier this year, Equal Exchange ran a campaign called “Not all Bananas are Created Equal,” which stressed that the slightly higher cost of its bananas meant significantly improved conditions for farmers. 

The problem, Vitello says, is the lack of conversation between the retailer and the consumer. “There’s often a negative message around bananas, and it’s an assumption around what the consumer thinks instead of giving the consumer information and trusting they can make choices with that.”

E-commerce is a great way to tell this story, she says. The basic message is simple: That if consumers spend a little bit more for their bananas, it will allow farmers to stay on their farms, own their ground and stay in their countries. 

But Equal Exchange also trains produce department employees in stores, providing talking points and helping them create a narrative around the product.

The company provides marketing materials such as farmer photos and quotes. “We prefer to let small-scale producer organizations speak for themselves,” Vitello explains. “We provide the materials so we know they’re correct, and the store marketing department can tailor those to their look, add their brand, link to pictures we’ve created and make them their own.” 

Fair trade and organic, too

Coliman is a Mexican-based producer, distributor and marketer of fruits and vegetables, including bananas. For export, the company focuses on organic sales, especially fair trade-certified, but this year has been challenging and the company was happy “to find new opportunities in the North American market,” where there’s more awareness about the benefits and positive impact of buying fair trade,” says Audee Rios Cannobio, corporate sales and procurement director.

Coliman mostly sells to American wholesales/ripeners and supermarkets that like special promotions “where they can get higher volumes in sales and profit,” he said. But the company is “flexible to adapt our product to the retailer’s strategy or to a specific market.”

M. Levin & Co. is a full-line wholesale produce distribution company based out of Philadelphia, Pa., which sells conventional, organic and fair trade bananas. While conventional remains the biggest seller, “we have seen interest in both organic and fair trade bananas increase in recent years, and have begun selling more of them as a result,” says Tracie Levin, controller. “We expect this trend to continue.”

M. Levin ripens and distributes around 30,000 cases of bananas a week, mostly from Central America. It provides retailers with merchandising and POS materials. 

Social media mission

Because Equifruit keeps its messages short, Chackal hopes people wanting to learn more will visit its social media sites, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. She points out that Equifruit takes a slightly different approach on each platform, but with the overarching goal of keeping it fun.

Once retailers sign up with Equifruit, the company not only provides POS materials, but also works with the retailers on their social media to inform their customers why they’re going to be paying a few more cents on their grocery bill and how that makes a difference.

Equal Exchange Produce provides social media kits with photos and excerpts about farmers, typically in March and October, to help stores align their marketing/educational efforts with its own. “We try to represent the producer in everything we do,” says Vitello. 

For Coliman, marketing focuses on social media, primarily Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook, says Cannobio. “Our content is focused on building awareness of the brand, informing about our certifications, and generating higher-quality leads. We try to reach several markets through different channels.”

And M. Levin posts recipes, fun facts and nutritional information for bananas on its website and Facebook page. “Our customers tell us they enjoy learning about the ripening process, as well as some not so well-known facts about bananas,” Levin said.

 

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