Red alert for fans of green fruit

THE RUB OF THE GREEN ??

How green do you like your bananas? When it comes to protecting the environment, the EU certainly sees fruit production as ripe for improvement. But could its efforts to make agriculture more sustainable cause some imported bananas to go off? Just consider the split that the Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies have caused. On the one hand, you have those who think the bloc's 2020 decision to outlaw mancozeb – a pesticide used widely on the Latin American plantations that supply 70 per cent of Europe’s bananas – should extend to a ban on all fruit treated with that substance. On the other, we see a bunch of highly influential producers and multinationals, including household names like Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole and Fyffes, that naturally want to preserve their access to key markets. Then of course, the age-old question: how much is the market willing to fork out? As this piece published by Politico explains, one of Europe’s cheapest fruits could become a major test case for Brussels as it seeks to reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint. A decision on whether to tighten the legal limits on mancozeb residues is due next month.

Right now, of course, it’s a surplus, rather than an exodus, which is the biggest concern for Europe’s banana suppliers in Africa and Latin America . The banana business came through the pandemic relatively unscathed, but the closure of two key markets in Ukraine and Russia makes the balance of supply and demand even more precarious. As the head of Ecuador's banana export association explains: “We’re being forced to sell the fruit at a lower price, in addition to which we’re having to bear the additional shipping and logistics costs generated by the change of destination.”

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT ????

Meanwhile, Russia’s sharp eviction from global financial systems continues to leave suppliers shaken and stirred . Producers in Tucumàn, Argentina, have put their lemon harvest on ice as they wait to see whether Russia can take its usual quarter-segment of the country’s massive export deal. In South Africa , meanwhile, it seems there is no option simply to reroute pears to other markets: “Russia normally receives a specification of fruit which we cannot offer to other markets,” one leading supplier tells our correspondent Fred Meintjes. Instead, most of that fruit will go for processing. The plan, it seems, has gone pear-shaped. And then there is the small question of whether 200,000+ pallets of South African citrus can still find a buyer. For southern exporters, a cocktail of complications looks set to leave a bitter aftertaste.

BRAND NEW INVENTION ??

Florida grapefruit was an icon of the US fruit business in the nineties, but much like another of the Sunshine State’s chilled exports, Vanilla Ice – seriously, stick with me on this one – more recently a series of unexpected challenges have made it harder to maintain that success. Now, however, we discover a Florida grapefruit trade that is more resilient than ever. In a new episode of our podcast series Fruitbox , Chris White speaks to Samantha Lane of the Florida Department of Citrus about the industry’s remarkable recovery from disease, hurricanes, and a fall in consumer demand. If there was a problem, yo, they solved it .

THE DIGEST

Other Fruitnet stories I think you should read…

Pining for support—In the coming weeks, the war in Ukraine could chop down global wood supply and send the pallet industry crashing to the ground. As well as exporting 15m wooden pallets mostly to Europe last year, the country also supplied nearly three million cubic metres of sawn softwood timber that was used to make pallets and packaging in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Not the best platform for growth .

Britain needs spears—Asparagus season in the UK usually begins in the second half of April, so for most supermarket vegetable buyers I would imagine there was a big green circle around Easter weekend. But thanks to a warmer winter and a change in production techniques, Waitrose buyer Lucy Darby-Smith managed to get English asparagus into stores by late February .

Swede dreams—Nordic fresh produce company Greenfood wants to boost local supply of vegetables in Sweden by building ten vertical farms around the country, as pressure on the availability of land continues to grow. No word yet on whether the farms arrive flatpacked.

Fuelling doubt—“I have never seen so many empty glasshouses at this time of year, the last time was probably the Suez oil crisis.” Read that again. Not last year’s Suez canal crisis, but the oil crisis of late 1956. Cost inflation in energy markets has turned up the heat on producers and so, as Fruitnet’s Luisa Cheshire reports , UK glasshouse growers are abandoning production while colleagues in the Netherlands react to soaring gas prices.

Break the bias—Ahead of last week’s International Women’s Day, Ireland-based tropical fruit company Fyffes said it would donate to charities that support women facing sex-based violence, including domestic violence. Lots of companies in our industry have switched on to the importance of removing gender bias and addressing fundamental problems with the way women are treated. But there is a lot more to do.

Blinding performance—Demand for Dazzle apples continues to outpace supply as production of the branded variety spreads beyond New Zealand, and notably into the US. Output is set to double from last season to 600,000 cartons, and by all accounts demand for the variety in Asia is sky high. That is certainly an eye-catching display .

THE BEST OF THE REST

Interesting stories from elsewhere on the web…

Putin puts inputs out—“We are currently witnessing the beginning of a global food crisis, driven by the knock-on effects of a pandemic and more recently the rise in fuel prices and the conflict in Ukraine.” John Hammond and Yiorgos Gadanakis of the University of Reading explain how the global fertiliser shortage is going to affect food .

Newbie ruby—New Zealand grower Jeff Roderick was once on the cover of our European magazine Eurofruit, and now he has hit the limelight again with an appearance on current affairs TV show The Project . The occasion? Like many of his colleagues, he thinks the country’s new RubyRed kiwifruit variety is an absolute cracker and its commercial prospects are 'sweet as'.

Fair point—As this week’s IWD no doubt reminded many of us, we need to stop mansplaining. But, as Kim Chackal of Canadian importer Equifruit points out, we also need to stop bananasplaining .

Fresh designs—Design studio El vivero has lovingly researched some of the wonderful graphics used by fruit brands, focusing on popular designs created since the late 1950s. If like my colleague Giordano Giardi you’re in Madrid, check out this free exhibition at CentroCentro . If you’re elsewhere, feast your eyes on the video below. Oh, and if you still don’t have a fruit sticker album …

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