Bananas
From partnering with bold, international artists to an AI-powered social video experience in Times Square to a presence at Milan Design Week, the global banana brand is on a mission to elevate the everyday fruit into something truly inspired.
For the second year in a row, fair trade banana company Equifruit has secured a spot on The Globe and Mail’s list of Canada’s top companies, proving responsible sourcing and paying farmers fairly can translate to category growth in the banana aisle.
The Montreal-based importer of Fairtrade International-certified bananas says Hoefle has a firsthand understanding of what it takes to build and sustain successful produce programs at scale.
“Ripening is an art,” says Anthony Serafino of Exp Group. “Anyone can turn fruit yellow, but delivering the right color, shelf life and consistency for each customer requires discipline and precision.”
Under the U.S.-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, the U.S. will apply most-favored-nation tariff treatment to Ecuadorian cut flowers and agricultural goods such as bananas, pineapples and mangoes.
From optical gas analyzers to predictive data modeling, new ripening technologies are adding shelf life and reducing shrink for major retailers.
General Manager Justin McGregor explains how a fair trade partnership with Equifruit is trading customers up and proving that storytelling sells in the produce aisle.
The new purpose-driven banana brand from Fyffes empowers women in agriculture through its Partnership for Good, an initiative providing business training and economic autonomy to rural communities in Costa Rica.
From anniversary milestones to jumbo berry trends and the debut of new commodities, exhibitors at the Southeast Produce Council’s event focus on brand loyalty and the power of in-person connections.
Organic fair trade bananas will be available in Save-On-Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Urban Fare, Buy-Low Foods, Quality Foods and Nesters Market.
The family-owned company that provides ethylene application systems for fruit ripening recently shared its worldwide expansion strategy and offered an advance look at its soon-to-be-released digital control and remote monitoring for fruit ripening operations worldwide.
Last year, tariffs threatened to disrupt a growth trajectory for fair trade produce, but 2025 was still a win, says Rob Desson, senior business partnerships manager for fresh produce at Fairtrade America.
At Fruit Logistica 2026, Yelloway, Chiquita’s innovation partnership with KeyGene, announced what it says is a major breakthrough in future-proofing the banana industry: the completion of a banana pan-genome that accelerates breeding of disease‑resistant, climate‑resilient banana varieties.
For Equifruit, which is marking 20 years in the fair trade banana business this year, the April 5 baseline tariff of 10% the Trump administration imposed on nearly all countries slowed the momentum it had been building in the category for two decades.
With more than a decade of produce industry experience, Jake Kamysz is focused on pineapples, bananas and plantains for the company.
The Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador reports that overall exports are up 3.38%, due to uneven demand expansion across the world.
![fyffes_banana_conventional_fairtrade_cluster_front_cmyk[1].png](https://assets.farmjournal.com/dims4/default/8cb9c22/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x802+0+28/resize/250x167!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk1-prod-farm-journal.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fa2%2F89%2F01b64ac84651b5634f9c3d03d913%2Ffyffes-banana-conventional-fairtrade-cluster-front-cmyk1.png)
In a NielsenIQ survey, Fyffes says that more than 89% of European consumers confirm they have eaten a banana within the previous four weeks.
Together with Albert Heijn and Banasan, the partnership has invested over $500K in the five-year Building Dreams initiative.
The company says the honor spotlights the visionary leadership and impact-driven ethos of Coleman, the president and co-owner of the Montreal-based Equifruit.
At the recent IFPA Global Produce and Floral Show, the fresh produce industry showed it remains focused on growth and increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Pressured by disease and global issues on the one side, and changing consumer interests on the other, the future of banana marketing must become more engaging.
While the organization has existed in the background for about a year, the Banana Association of North America has come forward to drive awareness of the benefits of banana consumption.
Equifruit says its mission is global fair-trade banana domination, and it’s pursuing that “badass” vision through unexpected, nimble marketing.
The company continues to grow with the addition of 5,000 square feet of cooling space for its full line of tropical items.
The company received the 2025 award from the FPC Fresh Awards gala ceremony held in London.
The Montreal-based Fairtrade International-certified banana company has been named one of Canada’s top growing companies by The Globe and Mail for a fourth consecutive year.
Produce distributors are hoping the market’s progress carries into fall.